My ten most influential books of 2025
Not everything I read — the books from 2025 that left the deepest mark, counted down from the honorable mentions to number one.
Honorable mentions
Click a cover to turn it over. After the first one, hovering another turns it too.
The Science of Happiness: Seven Lessons for Living Well
Bruce Hood
One sentence on what this one was — to be written.
Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance
Laura Delano
One sentence on what this one was — to be written.
Information Science: The Basics
Judith Pintar & David Hopping
One sentence on what this one was — to be written.
Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails, and How We Can Do Better
Craig J. Bryan
One sentence on what this one was — to be written.
Democracy Needs Religion
Hartmut Rosa
One sentence on what this one was — to be written.
Jung’s Map of the Soul: An Introduction
Murray Stein
One sentence on what this one was — to be written.
Nos. 15–11
ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction—from Childhood through Adulthood
Edward M. Hallowell & John J. Ratey
Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism
Yanis Varoufakis
Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World
J. Doyne Farmer
Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy
Bryan W. Van Norden
The ten
No.10
Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions
Batja Mesquita
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.9
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love
Amir Levine & Rachel Heller
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.8
The Evolution of Cooperation
Robert Axelrod
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.7
Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey toward Equity
Claudia Goldin
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.6
Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care About Has Borderline Personality Disorder
Paul T. Mason & Randi Kreger
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.5
A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Karen Armstrong
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.4
The Long Game: China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order
Rush Doshi
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.3
Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Cook Ding
Roel Sterckx
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.2
The Divided Mind: Uncovering Psychiatry’s Dark Past and Reimagining Its Future
Edward Bullmore
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.
No.1
Man and His Symbols
Carl G. Jung
What this one changed — to be written. One or two sentences on the idea that moved something, not a summary of the book.