📚 My 10 Favorite Books of 2025, My Favorite Podcasts, and more.

👋 Happy New Year everyone!

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

• My top 10 favorite podcasts of 2025.

• Here’s a fascinating reading paradox/stat.

• 10 Books I’m looking forward to reading in 2026.

This week’s newsletter was made possible by Shortform.

I’ve tried several different book summary apps over the years, but Shortform is the best one out there.

They have 10,000+ handwritten book summaries–by real people (not AI).

And at the end of each summary, there are exercises to help you apply what you’ve learned.

I like to read their summaries as a way of sampling books before deciding whether to buy them and to review key lessons from my favorite books.

If you want to learn faster, retain more, or make your reading habit pay off:

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📚 Book Summaries:

I read 80 books in 2025.

Here were my top 10 favorite ones (in no particular order):

📖

1) "The 5 Types of Wealth" by Sahil Bloom

Everyone thinks success means being wealthy. But there are actually 5 types of wealth: time, social, mental, physical, and financial. Read this book to learn about all 5 types and how to achieve them.

2) "The Expectation Effect" by David Robson

Think of this book as the science behind visualization or manifestation. In it, the author explains how our beliefs shape our reality. A must-read for anyone interested in psychology, neuroscience, or mindset.

3) "The Enchanted Hour" by Meghan Gurdon

This book is all about the health and life benefits that come from reading books. If you love books about books or need motivation to spend more time reading, check out this book.

4) "The Art of Spending Money" by Morgan Housel

Morgan teaches readers to see money as a tool for freedom, happiness, and meaning–and how to spend money wisely and achieve maximum joy and fulfillment from it.

5) "How to Breakup With Your Phone" by Catherine Price

We're all addicted to our phones. This book will shock you with the negative effects of our phones, but more importantly, teach you how to decrease your screen time and scrolling addiction.

6) "Before and After the Book Deal" by Courtney Maum

If you're an aspiring author or an author who just got a book deal, this book is a fantastic guide as you navigate your author journey. It also includes advice from 150+ authors.

7) "Before The Bestseller" by Alex Strathdee

If you're launching your book soon or want to learn how to sell more copies, this book is for you. The author interviewed dozens of bestselling authors and put their best advice into this book.

8) "Wealthy and Well-Known" by Rory Vaden & AJ Vaden

If you're an expert, entrepreneur, or executive who wants to become a content creator or someone with a large following who wants to turn reputation into revenue, this book is an excellent guide.

9) "Why We Remember" by Charan Ranganath

This book dives into the science of memory and how our brains use information to understand the present and plan for the future. If you're into neuroscience, psychology, or why you forget so much, read this book.

10) "Write a Must-Read" by Anjanette “AJ” Harper

If you want to write a book that people will actually read and recommend, you need to read this book. AJ will teach you how to develop your book, draft it, and edit it so that it's a must-read book.

✅ Actionable Advice:

Want to read more books in 2026?

Then check out my masterclass reading course The Art of Reading.

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• Read 25 to 50+ books a year

• Remember more of what you read

• Develop a consistent reading habit

• Stop getting distracted while reading

• Easily and effectively take notes in books

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• Apply lessons learned from books to transform your life

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💎 Weekly Gem:

App: Snipd  

If you’re a podcast addict like me, you’ll love Snipd.

It’s an AI-powered app that:

• Generates summaries of podcasts so you can see the key lessons before you hit play.

• Let’s you easily capture insightful lessons just by tapping your headphones.

• Can export and sync your podcast highlights to your favorite note app.

And much more.

If you want to remember more of what you listen to and get a higher ROI from your podcasts, I highly recommend Snipd.

You can try Snipd FREE for 1 month here. 

Your opinion matters!

Thank you for your support,

Alex W.