The books that stayed with me this year.
Not most-recommended, not longest, not cleverest. The ones I keep finding myself quoting six months later.
A reading list is a form of autobiography. This is mine for 2025.
The ones that stayed
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. I have read it three times. It is the best framework I have found for understanding why organisations behave the way they do.
The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander. Ostensibly about architecture. Actually about how quality emerges from the accumulation of small, correct decisions over time.
Working in Public by Nadia Eghbal. The best account of how open source software actually works, who does the work, and what it costs them.
What they have in common
None of them told me what I wanted to hear. All of them changed the way I look at something I thought I understood.
A good book leaves you slightly embarrassed by your previous opinions.
What I’m reading now
The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming. Slowly.