Starting in 2020, I began tracking in a table all the books I read or listened to. As a result, over the past 6 years, I’ve gone through no fewer than 171 books, 143 in physical print on paper, and the remaining 28 in audio format.
But does all this reading actually help with anything? Last year, I had a conversation with a fellow entrepreneur who told me he doesn’t have time to read because he has work to do; he needs to work, that’s where he creates value. I didn’t try to convince him otherwise; he seemed firmly anchored in his belief. Still, the question is legitimate: what does reading help you with?
I think the answer varies depending on the person and the set of interests they pursue. For me, reading helps me gain new perspectives and better understand concepts that, at first glance, can seem far too complex. Then, by adding these new perspectives to my intellectual toolkit, I’m able to make changes in my life, both personal and professional, in the direction I want, so that things get even better for me.
If this paragraph were a mathematical proof, the resulting formula would sound like this: reading helps you make your life better, in my opinion.
Still, we have a limited number of books we can realistically get through, especially if we’re actively engaged in work. That makes it even more important what titles you’re exposed to, and specifically which books you end up reading. Do you fall for extraordinarily well-marketed titles promoted by publishers and bookstores that don’t actually hide much substance, or are you the kind of person who knows what they’re after and looks for authors who are truly relevant to that field?
Either way, I recommend choosing your books carefully, just like you choose your news sources, because you risk falling victim to misinformation.
If you’re out of ideas, and you’ve been on this blog before, for the books I went through in 2025, I’ll add one question per book in the table below. And if you’re interested in finding the answer to that question, maybe it would be worth reading that book.
No. | Book title | Author | Question |
1 | Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy | Henry Kissinger | How do leaders who make decisions with global impact think and act under extreme pressure, over the long term? |
2 | What Do We Expect from the Country’s President? | Cristian Preda, Ciprian Mihali, Sorin Ioniță | What realistic expectations should we, as a society, have from a president in a fragile democracy? |
3 | Primed to Perform | Neel Doshi & Lindsay McGregor | How do you build genuine motivation in organizations without relying on bonuses and pressure? |
4 | The 5 Love Languages | Gary Chapman | Why do people who love each other end up feeling misunderstood—and how can this be prevented? |
5 | Autocracy, Inc. | Anne Applebaum | How do modern authoritarian regimes cooperate, and why are democracies more vulnerable than they seem? |
6 | A Brief History of the Romanians | Ioan-Aurel Pop | What does history explain about the reflexes, fears, and blockages of today’s Romania? |
7 | Virtual Identity | Mihnea Măruță | How does the internet change the way we think, define ourselves, and relate to others? |
8 | Teaming | Amy C. Edmondson | How do you build teams that learn quickly and “fail intelligently,” without fear? |
9 | Attention, with Intention | Dragoș Pătraru | How do you regain control of your attention in a world designed to constantly distract you? |
10 | Greek-Style Leadership | Theodor Paleologu | What can modern leaders learn from the philosophy and culture of Ancient Greece? |
11 | The Narrow Corridor | Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson | Why do some states succeed while others fail, even when they have similar resources? |
12 | You Asked Me Why | Seneca | What would life look like if we made decisions guided by reason rather than impulse? |
13 | The Trading Game | Gary Stevenson | What does the financial world look like from the inside—and what personal cost comes with extreme success? |
14 | Genesis | Henry A. Kissinger, Eric Schmidt, Craig Mundie | How will artificial intelligence reshape the economy, security, and global power? |
15 | War | Bob Woodward | How are critical decisions made during major conflicts—and what never makes it into official press releases? |
16 | Overcoming Addiction | Radu Țincu | What real mechanisms lie behind addiction—and how can they be treated effectively? |
17 | Careless People | Sarah Wynn-Williams | How can seemingly small decisions made by leaders generate serious systemic effects? |
18 | The Human Element | Loran Nordgren, David Schonthal | Why do people resist change even when it is clearly beneficial? |
19 | Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control | Ryan Holiday | How do you build self-control as a competitive advantage in a world of excess? |
20 | How Countries Go Broke | Ray Dalio | How do countries become over-indebted, and what early warning signals should we watch? |
21 | The Effective Executive | Peter F. Drucker | What distinguishes effective leaders from those who are busy but ineffective? |
22 | Disinformation | Ion Mihai Pacepa, Ronald J. Rychlak | How is public opinion manipulated—and how can you recognize mass influence operations? |
23 | Food Lords | Stefano Liberti | Who really controls the global food supply chain, and what impact does that have on us? |
24 | The Startup Way | Eric Ries | How can large organizations innovate without losing structure and discipline? |
25 | Evolve Your Brain: The Science of Changing Your Mind | Joe Dispenza | How much can we change our reality by changing our mental patterns? |
26 | The Slight Edge | Jeff Olson | Why do small daily habits matter more than big, rare decisions? |
27 | The Warren Buffett Way | Robert G. Hagstrom | How does an investor who beats the market over the long term think—without flashy formulas? |
