THALEIN

My 2025 reading list was more eclectic than in years past—a blend of biography, fantasy, science fiction, and business strategy.

These were my five favourite reads from the last year:

Elon Musk (Biography) by Walter Isaacson

I think it is fair to say that Elon Musk evokes strong emotional responses. There are some who admire his brilliance in entrepreneurship, building industry-disrupting companies ranging from Tesla to SpaceX and xAI. There are others who despise him for his alt-right rhetoric and confrontational approach to, yeah, pretty much everything. He is the quintessential subject for a biography, and Isaacson has delivered a masterwork.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Though I’ve seen the films, I had never explored Tolkien’s original prose. I started with The Hobbit, as one does, and found the world-building as immersive as the legends suggest.

Ruud Lubbers: Een slag anders by Johan van Merriënboer

Admittedly, you need to be a bit of a geek on Dutch Politics to fully appreciate this one. Lubbers served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands for a 12-year period, from 1982 to 1994, navigating the country through a period of economic recession, the missile crisis, and European integration. He played a key role in negotiations with Reagan and Gorbachev to put a halt to nuclear proliferation. The book is both a biography of a natural leader with an unparalleled work ethic and a historical account of the final decade of the Cold War.

How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg

A mind-blowing 92% of all projects fail to be delivered within budget and on time. When measuring success strictly as on-time, on-budget delivery of promised benefits, only 0.5% (or 1 in 200 projects) succeed—leaving 99.5% as failures in all three metrics. Bent Flyvbjerg is a Danish economic geographer and leading expert on megaprojects. In How Big Things Get Done he shares key lessons from his research on thousands of failed and successful megaprojects. Flyvbjerg explores cases ranging from the Sydney Opera House (an epic failure) to the Empire State Building (a resounding success, finished 17% under budget). A fun and insightful read for everyone whose job entails leading and executing big or small projects.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

From the author of The Martian, this is a high-stakes survival story. It follows Ryland Grace, a teacher-turned-astronaut tasked with saving Earth from a solar-dimming threat. It’s a masterclass in creative problem-solving. And it turns out humans aren’t the only species fighting for survival.