Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?

I mostly read newspapers and technical journals, but two books that I read that made an impression: "The Changing World Order" and "The Gulag Archipelago".

Frankenstein. Superb science fiction, very readable even though written 200 years ago. And Wuthering Heights, which strangely like Frankenstein, has a complex narrative structure and an unhinged, obsessive central character

I mostly read fiction but I made time for a couple of nonfiction books this year. On the fiction side I really enjoyed "Luminous" and "When We Where Real".

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminous_(novel)

- https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/When-We-Were-Real/Dar...

On the nonfiction side, I can recommend "Careless People" and "Apple in China".

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careless_People

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_in_China

One of my favourite reads from this past year was Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe by Steven Strogatz. It's a wonderful review of the history of calculus, including intuitive explanations of the basics.

Getting into reading again this year after a long break.

The most memorable read of this year was "The Count of Monte Cristo" (1846) by Alexander Dumas .

It's one of the greatest stories ever told. It's ~1250 pages but I sped through it in 3 weeks even if I'm a slow reader.

Highly recommended!

I also read The Stranger by Camus and the two top Orwells which lived up to the hype.