announces my Top-10 Books of 2025 and my Book-of-the-Year. Also, Happy New Year! Plus,
to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), and for more book reviews, visit
. Bonus! Visit the
for the updated master lists of book reviews as of Dec. 31, 2025.
2025’s TOP-10 BOOKS
& Book-of-the-Year!
To read all the 2025 book reviews, visit the archives at
John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and the
Pails in Comparison Blog. (Note: Some issues are currently being moved to these new blogsites.)
In 2025, I published 35 issues of
Your Weekly Staff Meeting and added 21 posts at
Pails in Comparison. Some issues included more than one book, so I reviewed about 50 books in 2025, including a "museum" review and two special tributes. I also had fun with AI and Google’s NotebookLM and created more podcasts adding to the 14 we posted in 2024. (Watch for a master list in 2026.)
What did you read (or listen to) in 2025?
2025 BOOK-OF-THE-YEARGENTLE AND LOWLY: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, by Dane Ortlund. (
Read my review.) I read this book twice, thanks to Paul Lewis and Paul Fleischmann. It's a holy ground page-turner with dozens of PowerPoint-worthy quotes. The author affirms: “This book is written for the discouraged, the frustrated, the weary, the disenchanted, the cynical, the empty. Those running on fumes. Those whose Christian lives feel like constantly running up a descending escalator.”
Favorite Quote: Ortlund appreciates theologian Louis Berkhof who wrote, “It is a consoling thought that Christ is praying for us, even when we are negligent in our prayer life.” Ortlund adds,
“Our prayer life stinks most of the time. But what if you heard Jesus praying aloud for you in the next room? Few things would calm us more deeply.” (
Order from Amazon.)
2025 TOP-10 BOOKSNote: Books are listed by 2025 review date (earliest first).
1. RESET: How to Change What's Not Working, by Dan Heath. (Read my two reviews!
Part 1 and
Part 2.) One-half of the bestselling Heath brothers team, writes that “when unexpected problems arise in our organizations, it often reveals that we didn’t know as much about our ‘system’ as we thought we did.”
Heath quotes two psychologists who “asked people to assess how well they understood certain familiar devices. How well do you understand how a zipper works? A flush toilet?” Read my
Part 1 review and watch the hilarious and insightful video.
For Your Next Staff Retreat! In
Chapter 9, “Tap Motivation,” Heath describes a staff retreat assignment. Using sticky notes, “write down one task that's on your plate today that you would pay someone to take over for you. Then…on a second sticky note, write down one task you'd be so excited to do that you'd pay for the privilege.” (
Order from Amazon.)
2. SUPERHABITS: The Universal System for a Successful Life, by Andrew V. Abela. (
Read my review.) The author warns us: “A mid-air crisis is not the time to be learning many new things.” Hopefully, you’re not in crisis mode today. So it’s the perfect time to be learning from the founding dean of Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. (Dr. Abela was also a brand manager at Procter & Gamble, and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company.)
You’ll love this book!
FREE POSTER! My granddaughter, Annika, gave me this joyful book for my birthday. Andrew Abela generously shares the results of his diligent deep dive into the
Treatise on Virtues of St. Thomas Aquinas. He calls his project, “Anatomy of Virtue: The System of ‘Superhabits’ for Making Life Easier, Happier, and Healthier.” And get this! The hardcover copy of
Superhabits comes shrink-wrapped with a stunning 16” x 21” full-color poster, plus access to the Busch Virtue Diagnostic. (
Order from Amazon.)
3. THE 10-SECOND RULE: Following Jesus Made Simple, by Clare De Graaf. (
Read my review.) Must-read! “Just do the next thing you’re reasonably certain Jesus wants you to do and commit to it immediately—in the next 10 seconds—before you change your mind!”
My friend, Dan Busby (1941-2022) gave me this book in 2012. I finally read it in 2025! So…can we really be sure to trust the “impressions” from the Lord to take action within 10 seconds? De Graaf acknowledges, “…when we’re not sure, we tend to play it safe—and do nothing.” But he cheers us on with this: “…I only need to believe it’s the kind of thing Jesus himself might do if he were me. I don’t need to be 100 percent certain. In fact, the need for certainty is often the enemy of obedience.” (
Order from Amazon.)
4. SPEAK, MEMORABLY: The Art of Captivating an Audience, by Bill McGowan and Juliana Silva. (
Read my review.)
Oh, my. I’ve been doing it all wrong! Speaking. Presentations. PowerPoints. Storytelling. Humor. Metaphors. Analogies. How about you? Do your speaking tools enable your great ideas to “ricochet in people’s heads for hours, days, or even weeks after you’ve said them?” Be honest now. (
OK. You better read this new book!)
THE COPPOLA STORYTELLING FORMULA. After you read Chapter 2, you’ll embrace Francis Ford Coppola’s formula for making movies: “Look and decide what’s the best thing you have, the second-best thing, and the third-best thing.
• “Take the best thing you have and make it the ending of the movie,
• and take the second-best thing and make it the beginning of the movie,
• and the third thing put in between those two.” (
Order from Amazon.)
5. THE GUNS OF AUGUST: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Classic About the Outbreak of World War I, by Barbara W. Tuchman. (
Read my review.) In 2021, when I reviewed Becoming Trader Joe, by Joe Coulombe, the chain’s founder, I was stunned to read what he said about The Guns of August. “It’s the best book on management—and, especially, mismanagement—I’ve ever read.” So, of course, I had to read it.
1,000 IDEAS! “Unlike General de Langle of the Fourth Army whom Joffre had just found calm, confident, and ‘perfectly master of himself’—the one essential duty of a commander in Joffre’s eyes—Ruffey appeared nervous, excitable, and ‘imaginative to an excessive degree.’ As Colonel Tanant, his Chief of Operations, said, he was very clever and full of a thousand ideas of which one was magnificent but the question was which.” Ruffey was replaced. (
Order from Amazon.)
6. GENTLE AND LOWLY: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, by Dane Ortlund. (
2025 Book-of-the-Year: see review above.)
7. HOW LEADERS LOSE THEIR WAY: And How to Make Sure It Doesn't Happen to You, by Peter Greer and Jill Heisey. (
Read my review.) Ten years ago, everyone was talking about
Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, and Churches, by Peter Greer and Chris Horst, with Anna Haggard. That book was much easier to read. Sure, organizations drift and sometimes fail. But not me! No need to read this new book, right?
Wrong!
YIKES! Dip your toe in the water—any chapter—and try to delude yourself into thinking you’re not susceptible to the dangers of personal drift: The Allure of Achievement, The Mastery of Money, The Pursuit of Pleasure, The Problem with Power, The Quest for Control (definitely skip this chapter!), The Need for Speed, The Island Effect, and Self at Center. (
Order from Amazon.)
8. TIME TO STAND UP, by Bill Hull. (
Read my review.)
Oh, my. I needed reinforcements to review this outstanding book! (Gratefully, my friend, Connor White, and I discussed the book over fish and chips!) Connor notes: “I loved this book. As a Christian leader, pastor, and author (and a fan of Bonhoeffer and Dallas Willard)—the author dares to allow himself to be misunderstood. No dumbing down of his content. The debate chapters in his book spotlight his incredible creativity. And—he is so, so funny!”
Bill Hull writes, “The gospel begins to penetrate when one day you realize, ‘I’m the schmuck,’ ‘I’m the idiot,’ ‘I’m the jerk,’ ‘I’m the sinner.’ G.K. Chesterton entered the London Times inquiry contest to the general public, ‘What is wrong with the world?’ Chesterton answered, ‘I am.’ One day it was a revelation to me, ‘What is wrong with this congregation?’ The answer came to me, ‘I am.’ This revelation started a journey for me to have a satisfied soul.” (
Order from Amazon.)
9. CEO READY: What You Need to Know to Earn the Job—and Keep the Job, by Mark Thompson and Byron Loflin. (
Read my review.) Quick! Give me 10 key points to share with a candidate who thinks he or she is ready for the top spot: CEO. (I thought of three—but then I read this book. Oh, my. I know nothing!) The 20-page chapter with “Ten Ways to Work with Peers in Order to Be CEO Ready” is worth the price of the book. Chapter 5’s subtitle is a warning: “C-suite colleagues can’t get you the job, but they can kill your chances.”
CEO Ready is not just for future CEOs. Current CEOs—all leaders and managers—will benefit from reading this book. The authors quote former HBS dean Nitin Nohria’s research on why leaders must distinguish between four different types of incoming challenges:
• Normal noise (“the small stuff”)
• Clarion calls (“the big ones—loud and sustained")
• Whisper warnings (“the trickiest to spot”)
• Siren songs (“the seductive distractions”)
(
Order from Amazon.)
10. GOD: THE SCIENCE, THE EVIDENCE—The Dawn of a Revolution, by Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies (
Read my review on the
Pails in Comparison Blog.) published in English in October 2025 (and already an international bestseller with more than 400,000 copies sold), “the book everyone is talking about” features a diverse collection of endorsers: “15 personalities from all walks of life.”
The co-authors note that “To our knowledge, no other book like the one you are holding in your hands exists. We have aimed to make it easy and enjoyable to read for all, while ensuring accuracy. The chapters are independent, so readers can approach them in any order of their choice. We have done our best; we leave the rest to your free judgment.”
“THIS BOOK WILL CHANGE LIVES.” On the book’s website, others weigh in, including Fr. Robert Spitzer, Astrophysicist and Philosopher, and former president of Gonzaga University. “This book will change lives,” he writes. (
Order from Amazon.)
Note: I’ve attended Father Spitzer’s lectures on The Shroud of Turin and he’s the real deal. (By the way, check out the “Ask Father Spitzer” feature when you visit The Shroud of Turin: An Immersive Experience, the stunning new museum at the Crystal Cathedral Campus in Garden Grove, Calif.)
Read my "review" of my visit to The Shroud museum.
THE BOOK BUCKET!
2 Book Lists!Just posted! Visit the
Book Bucket on the Management Buckets website to download:
•
List #2: Chronological List of 668 Issues of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (updated 12/31/2025)
Note: List #1 will be updated and posted by Jan. 15, 2026.
•
List #1: Books by Management Buckets Categories (updated 12/31/2024)
BONUS LISTS!•
List #3: John Pearson's Top-100 Book List (updated 12/31/2022)
•
List #4: Mastering 100 Must-Read Books (published 9/14/2022)
CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN
Issue No. 658 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Oct. 3, 2025) features a new book coming Oct. 7—describing the four seasons of a CEO. The “...
No comments:
Post a Comment