The 2025 Page Turn: Days Go By
Keith Urban, as he always does, summed things up well: “I'm changin' lanes and talkin' on the phone; I'm drivin' way too fast; And the interstate's jammed with gunners like me.” I am exceptionally lucky to be surrounded in work, life, and home with people that all push me to be a better person and I likely need to do a better job showing appreciation for each of them. (Side note: that song is 20 years old and check out the style of the jeans…)
Many of the titles consumed this year were recommendations from folks who read the past lists and gave suggestions - please keep the ideas coming! The network effect of these lists make them worthwhile and I thoroughly enjoy reading the lists that others put out each year. Something that makes 2025 stand out versus prior years: three of the titles were so good I bought additional copies to give to others. Catch a Fire, The Company, and The House of Huawei were instant classics for me: one covers the dawn of legal cannabis in Canada; one covers the literal dawn of modern Canada and retail as we know it in North America; and one covers the dawn of 5G telecommunications (and a host of amazing other details on the rise of the Chinese economy). All were recommended, all were great. Thank you!
Below is the list of many of the books consumed from January to December 2025, in the order they were originally completed. As usual, most were done via Audible. The links provided for each title is to Audible or Amazon, but I encourage frequenting your local bookstore, as not only will the experience be better, but the other suggestions will be eye opening. This year, I’m distilling my thoughts on each title into one sentence. My biases sneak into longer form notes and art is in the eye of the beholder. There is a target audience for everything and just because I don’t understand something doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
In 2025, I continued the trend of re-reading certain titles: these can be found in past summaries for 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Catch a Fire by Ben Kaplan
The opportunity to follow the rise (and some would say fall) of the legal recreational Canadian cannabis framework from the players that actually lived the experience.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
Sometimes taking a moment to reflect on why we’re doing what we’re doing is valuable.
Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
“80% done by someone else is 100% freaking awesome.” - Dan Martell
$100M Leads by Alex Hormozi
Alex runs through walls and I love learning from his tenacity and thoughtfulness.
$100M Offers by Alex Hormozi
Alex runs through walls and I love learning from his tenacity and thoughtfulness. (Just wait: 2026 will have his next book on the list and likely the same explanation for reading it!)
The Company by Stephen R. Brown
Painful detail on Canada from the 1600s through to the modern era, leveraging the letters and memos from Hudson’s Bay Company archives to paint the picture. (I bought multiple copies for people as holiday gifts this year; unquestionably the best book I consumed in 2025.)
Weed Empire by Adam Bierman
Love him or hate him, Adam created quite the brand with Medmen in the mid-2010s and he doesn’t mince words dissecting his own gambling tendencies.
Values by Mark Carney
I make a point of learning about anyone who will have a massive impact on mine and my family’s financial wellbeing and it’s nice that he clearly lays out his stance on most aspects of life; I encourage everyone in Canada to read at least the introduction.
The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kobert
Aside from the super interesting background on the past extinctions on planet Earth, the politicization of science and what is put into children’s textbooks were the most fascinating thing in this book: turns out it’s not a new thing!
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson and Tim Ferriss
“I like to think that if I lost all my money and if you drop me on a random street in any English-speaking country, within 5, 10 years I’d be wealthy again. Because it’s a skill set that I’ve developed and I think anyone can develop.” - Naval Ravikant
The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike
We tend to hear about the biggest newsworthy CEOs but rarely about the leaders that run their businesses profitably through ups and downs over decades; many of the most influential decisions aren’t newsworthy at the time.
The Man Who Killed Kennedy by Roger Stone
There’s a reason Francis Underwood in “House of Cards” was based upon Gerold H. Ford.
The Clintons’ War on Women by Roger Stone and Robert Morrow
There’s a reason Claire Underwood in “House of Cards” was based upon Hillary Clinton.
1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin
As I write this, I’m rattled that I didn’t get more copies of this for friends’family over the holidays: it’s “Too Big to Fail” but in the 1920s. As Andrew does, the detail is amazing and the history of the booming 1920s is incredibly well sourced by company memos and documents from the Library of Congress.
The Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell
The way a story is told is sometimes just as important as the core story itself; understanding how stories have been perpetuated throughout history and how humans interact with them based on their own lived experiences is vital for positioning.
Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willnick and Leif Babin
Sometimes I need to be reminded of what people in real life or death situations are doing so I can bring more perspective to my own decision making.
House of Huawei by Eva Dou
Epic story that tracks the rise of China’s supremacy in manufacturing and technology in the last 100 years; plus, it details one of the biggest recent geopolitical follies for Canada. Anyone that I’ve interacted with in the last month has likely heard me rave about this book.