Read 35 Books in 2025
Academic Studies Journey Overview
Follow this step-by-step academic studies journey to see real progress updates, challenges overcome, and practical experience.
Progress Updates (6 total)
Update #1: Read 35 Books in 2025
Read 35 Books in the year 2025
Challenges Overcome: 31 Books Complete
Update #2: Read the new Woody Allen book (#32)
90% completeIt was only a matter of time before I impulsively went into the B&N off Union Sq and got Woody Allen's debut novel. This was a quick and enjoyable read and helped bail me out of a reading slump (precipitated by Henry Paulson's memoir -___-). I love Woody and hope we get to read more novels from him
Update #3: Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (#33)
90% completeFinished Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Short lil novella about Vampirism and all that sort of stuff. Got it from the NYPL. I'm a sucker for stories set in the deep forest of eastern europe (altho this one was set in Austria)
Challenges Overcome: This was only 156 pages. Quick read in a genre I don't have much experience in. Was good to read a book that was halloween related during Oct.
Obstacles Faced: This one took some discipline because it wasn't necessarily the most non-boring book I've read
Looking Back: I learned that according to Le Fanu Vampires don't have pale skin. it's a misconception and frankly it's offensive to those suffering from Vampirism.
Update #4: On the Brink by Henry Paulson (#34)
95% completeDrier than the term sheet of an asset backed commercial paper issuance, this memoir by former secretary of the treasury Henry Paulson was an exercise in discipline. Goggins would be proud. I used to work in the securities division at an investment bank and will always have a fondness for and interest in high finance. Henry Paulson is a unique character being the former head of Goldman Sachs and a Christian Scientist. Picked up some details about the crisis that I didn't know about before but overall I'm going to stay away from memoirs written by former government officials. I will eventually read Lloyd Blankfein's new memoir that's coming out though
Challenges Overcome: Yay 🎉 it's over
Obstacles Faced: This was V-E-R-Y boring. I ran out of steam about 20% in but didn't want to abandon it so pushed through. Damn you Paulson!
Looking Back: - Hadn't known Morgan Stanley was so close to going under during the crisis
- Literally the entire treasury department was full of ex-Goldman guys. They run the financial world
- Henry Paulson is a Christian Scientist who is prone to stress-induced dry heaving spells and needs 8 hours of sleep. He played football at Dartmouth and was known as 'the hammer.' I like Paulson and have nothing but admiration for Goldman elites.
- Citigroup was an organizational mess even back then. I used to work there and can report that nothing has changed
- TARP was initially supposed to be used for asset purchases but things got so bad that it was used to buy equity in financial institutions
- The government was basically wheeling and dealing with banks, forcing them to merge in shotgun weddings during the crisis. It was basically:
Gov: "You idiots, you blew it all up!"
Banks: 'it broke😑 wat do we do'
Gov: "JPM you buy Bear Sterns, Lehman go fck yourself and die, AIG you idiot take this $85 billion loan, BofA buy Merrill idc if they hid $22bn of losses from you until after the deal was agreed upon by both boards - you're going to do it or all be fired. Oh and Citigroup, you're genuinely an embarrassment to us all."
Update #5: Ingram by Louis C.K. (#35)
95% completeI read Louis C.K.'s debut novel as my 35th book of the year. There were some ups and downs. It reminded me of the executioners song and terrence Malik's days of heaven. If I had read any Steinbeck I'd probably just say it reminded me of Steinbeck. I liked the parts about the kid learning engine repair. It felt like he was leveling up a skill in Fallout New Vegas or something. This was an odd book. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what his second novel will be which apparently he's already finished writing. I want him to go weirder and darker. Maybe write a book in a medieval setting, add some absurdist humor, slow it down a bit, use complex vocabulary, drop insane references that I'd have to search up, have characters lose their minds, etc. Overall I enjoyed it and am glad I read it.
Challenges Overcome: I've reached my goal of reading 35 books in 2025 BUT I still **MUST** finish Homer's Odyssey and Kaufman's book on Nietzsche to successfully complete this goal. I can't go into the new year with those two unfinished. I also have to finish the Arden edition of Hamlet.
Obstacles Faced: Not much in the ways of challenges (unlike for Ingram poor guy)
Looking Back: Between this and Woody's book, I'm gonna cool it with the $30 new release hardcover purchases
Update #6: Hamlet by William Shakespeare (#36)
95% completeI read Hamlet twice: 1st reading was to experience the play as it is written. The 2nd was a deeper reading with all introductions, footnotes, and appendices in the Arden Shakespeare edition (600+ pages). Hamlet is obviously a masterpiece and I'm very happy to have finally read it. I prefer the story of Macbeth, but Hamlet has an incredible amount of profound passages and banger quotes, not to mention the timeless themes (some of which were the first of their kind in literature). The graveyard scene with Yorick is beautiful and made me feel a way I haven't really ever felt reading a story.
Challenges Overcome: This was one of the top ten books I want to read before I die ☑️
Obstacles Faced: Arden editions are veryyyyyyy long
Looking Back: The human experience