My favourite books of 2025

In 2025, I finished 9 books. Didn’t quite meet my yearly target of 12, but really happy with the books I read this year.

Here is a bit about my top three for the year - what they're about, why I loved them so much, and my favourite quotes and takeaways.

1. The State of Africa, by Martin Meredith

Two years ago, I read “King Leopold’s Ghost”, which is a haunting book about the exploitation of the Congo by Belgian King Leopold II. It was undeniably my favourite book that year and ever since I have wanted to read more about the history of African states through colonialism and independence. This is how I came upon The State of Africa, which was the longest book I read this year, it took me almost two months to complete.

📒 Spoiler-free summary (can a history book can have spoilers?)

The State of Africa provides a comprehensive overview of African states from independence till (more of less) the present day. It’s a great dissection of the intersection of events that led to the problems a lot of states now face with corruption, violence, and struggles with democracy.

The book begins with Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah starting the revolution that led to many more African countries gaining independence. We see how Africa’s first independent leaders - Nkrumah, Houphouët-Boigny, Kenyatta, Nyerere, and so many more - began with good intentions and how all of them, one by one, came to embody the same problems they fought so hard against. We see how so many countries became besieged with coups and tyrannical leaders. And we get a glaring insight into the struggles to gain and sustain democracy.

Why I give it ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

At school, I stopped studying history at IGCSE level. Even then, I never felt like I got an education on the history of Africa, specifically around colonialism and it’s effects. So for me, this was a critical learning of a topic I feel I should have known a lot more about. Meredith also writes in a way that is engaging so it doesn’t feel like I’m reading a textbook.

💭 Top quotes & takeaways

“The effect of the policy of the colonial powers has been the economic isolation of peoples who live side by side” - Sylvanus Olympio

This made me think of a trip I took a few years ago to Benin, which is right next to Nigeria. In order to exchange Nigerian Naira for CFA, I had to first change to USD as an intermediary currency. I’ll never forget this moment as it is also one of the reasons I’m so passionate about stablecoins and cryptocurrency as a way to liberate African countries from this dependency on the USD.

“Independence means self-reliance. Independence cannot be real if a nation depends upon gifts and loans from another for its development.” - Julius Nyerere

This is so apt and describes a problem we still see with so many African countries today, the unfortunate reliance on aid.

“In place of Big Man rule came Big Man democracy, with little difference between the two”

2. Fight Right, by Julie and John Gottman

I’m recently married (my one-year anniversary is this week) and have read quite a few books on relationships and marriage. “Attached”, by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller is a great lesson on different attachment styles and how that shows up in your relationship. “How To Get Married” by the School of Life is a funny but realistic assessment of why marriage exists, and how to think about it practically.

In the world of relationship psychology, the Gottmans are leading voices. There’s literally a “Gottman method” for improving relationships. So when they released their new book last year, I had to give it a read.

📒 Spoiler-free summary

Fight Right is a book about “how successful couples turn conflict into connection”. The book starts off explaining why couples have conflict in the first place and why we fight in the way that we do. Then, it covers the five types of fights that couples have, and how to approach them in a more constructive way. The aim of the book isn’t for you to completely eliminate conflict, but to fight right.

Why I give it ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Ultimately it was really practical. They even provide you with a worksheet to process fights. I genuinely feel that, since reading the book, the way I think about conflict has completely changed, which has been really helpful in my relationship.

💭 Top quotes & takeaways

“We tend to equate low levels of conflict with happiness, but that just isn’t true. The absence of conflict doesn’t indicate a strong relationship—in fact, it can lead to exactly the opposite.”

I’m definitely a conflict-averse person, so I tend to think any sort of conflict is bad, but this genuinely changed the way I think about it.

"Most conflicts are perpetual. We need to learn to approach conflict differently, at a fundamental level, not how to solve one particular fight."

"It’s not your job to improve your partner. That’s solely your partner’s job. Your job is to be the best version of yourself that you can be."

3. Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin

I’m really into horror movies and recently started reading horror as well. Up until reading Rosemary’s Baby, I had only read horror from Stephen King, and wanted to branch out more. In looking for a horror novel to try, I found many Reddit threads recommending this classic from Ira Levin.

I’m of the opinion that any plot point is a spoiler, so won’t give a summary for this one.

Why I give it ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I’ve never read a book so quickly. I literally couldn’t put it down, and was so engrossed that I finished it in a matter of days. It was also interesting to see how this story clearly pioneered so many horror stories that came after it.

Honorable Mentions

Everything is Tuberculosis, by John Green

Did you know that Tuberculosis is essentially eradicated in most of the Western world, yet almost half a million people die from it every year in Africa? This book details the history of the disease and why it is still a problem in Africa today despite the fact that we have a cure.

Nearly all the Men in Lagos are Mad, by Damilare Kuku

A book of short stories about dating in Lagos. Absolutely hilarious.

The Anthropocence Reviewed, by John Green

Another great John Green book which reviews and ranks random things in life.