In no particular order and because I am stuck in a pop culture time loop not everything below is original to the year 2025. These are the things that I read, heard, watched, or discovered in 2025 that resonated and I still remember at the end of the year.

Favorite Books

  • The Big Hop by David Rooney: David is a historian that worked at the London Science Museum where the first plane to make the transatlantic flight resides. This historic race between teams to be the first to cross the Atlantic in 1919 is lost to history and overshadowed by the first solo transatlantic flight taken by Charles Lindbergh.
  • Kotaro Isaka novels: Obviously Bullet Train is this Japanese author’s best known work, but it is actually part of a series. I use the term ‘series’ loosely, there is some character overlap in the form of cameos or references to certain characters and events, but each novel stands on its own. I am impressed at Kotaro’s ability to weave so many points of view into a climatic overlap at the end. It is a jigsaw puzzle of plot complexity that just works. One of the only authors that I pre-order without thinking about it.

Interesting Things I Read

  • “The Longest Baseball Game Ever Played” by Brian Murphy: About the 1981 Triple-A baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox that went for 33 innings.
  • “Who Named the Red Baron?” by Michael Terry: Explores the origins of Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen’s nickname The Red Baron and the interesting connection to Snoopy. Article was published in Contact! a publication of the The Great War Aviation Society and available to members (I recommend if you are interested in aviation history).
  • “The Cracker Barrel Mess Isn’t Over Yet” by Heather Haddon and Suzanne Vranica: I do not care about Cracker Barrel or their silly logo. The only reason I read this article was two things. First, highlighted how important nostalgia is to people (probably because the world is changing so fast around them they need something to feel stable). Second, because it gave a concerning insight about AI. 32% to 37% of the online activity critical of the logo announcement came from bot accounts. People keep asking when is the singularity going to happen - it already has. AI bots drive the conversation and thus drive society. Consider that the next time you think about piling into a polarizing online discussion.

Favorite Songs

  • “Honey” by The Lone Bellow: Heard this on 92.3 WTTS It’s like a rock song that is a country song that is a blues song. A combination I would not normally like, but this one works.
  • “Kokomo, IN” by Japanese Breakfast: Another song I heard while listening to 92.3 on the radio. This song feels nostalgic while being fresh.
  • “Follow You (Life in Vegas)” by Imagine Dragons: I love this song and now I like it even more in this live recording. The crowd particpation in the beginning takes this to a new level of immersion and sense of being there.
  • “Situation” by Yaz: How did I miss this 1982 synth-pop hit? Reminds me of when I discovered “Rainbow in the Dark” by Dio or the band Zebra, decades after they were big.

Favorite Films

  • Tall in the Saddle Directed by Edwin Marin, 1944: John Wayne, Ella Raines in a Western murder mystery of sorts. I have seen many John Wayne films, but had never seen this one till 2025. Now, it is one of my favorites. The bravado and confidence that John Wayne’s roles portray can be seen solely in the non-verbal interactions in this film or how to win a gunfight with a stare.
  • AppleTV Films: Watched a few movies this year and found them pretty entertaining on AppleTV. Titles such as: Fountain of Youth, Greyhound, The Gorge and Argyle.
  • Burnt out on sequals, prequals and spinoffs. Not bothered to watch John Wick 4 and stopped watching Marvel movies, Jurassic Park movies and just about any other franchise out there. Disney squeezed every last dollar out of Star Wars that I’m so over it that for the rest of my life if I never see another Star Wars flick…I’m good with that. This should resonate since I’m part of the generation that grew up on the original trilogy: it is in our DNA. Yet, because of Disney, I’ve lost interest. Hopefully Disney does not do the same with Tron. I think 3 films is enough.

Favorite Quotes

  • “In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert there are few.” - Shunryu Suzuki
  • “The main lesson I’ve taken away from this is that if you’re only going to be successful in one half of your career, make it the second half. If it’s the first half, that’s a tragedy. But the second half is a happy ending.” - Nick Herron

Scotch

  • Lagavulin Offerman Edition Charred Oak is by far my favorite so far. The campfire smoke is right on top and it tastes like s’mores with that peaty finish but…well…charred.
  • For 2026 I am seeking out a bottle of Port Charlotte 18-year produced by the Bruichladdich Distillery along Loch Indaal. Call it a grail find cause it will be a miracle if I can find it.
  • Breakfast: Despite being an Islay man, I think the Speyside Macallan 18-year or a Scottish blend like Johnny Walker Blue are better suited for breakfast instead of a peaty Lagavulin. The Macallan compliments over-medium eggs without drowning out the hashbrowns.
  • Eggnog: No other option but Islay. My favorite is the Port Charlotte 12-year followed by the Offerman Edition Charred Oak. The eggnog + scotch combination with a roaring fire and Dutch butter cookies while watching Christmas movies is pure holiday perfection.

2026

  • I plan to continue my series of Mandelbrot, Boyd & Musashi with another installment as I continue to think about decision cycles.
  • Write more; wrapping up my second masters degree this spring should help with that.
  • Read more Len Deighton novels
  • Get back into learning the guitar

Addendum

  • Since writing 40-Hour Workweek I have come upon probably the most likely reason for its continued status as the driving framework and metric for work: organizational theater. Organization theater is found in large organizations (private, public, government…especially government) where success is largely about optics. Being seen is more important than getting any actual work done. If you find yourself in constant meetings or concerned about the up channel messaging of your department’s projects…your job is about optics. This is why CEOs are pushing for return to the office. It’s not about lack of productivity, it is about optics.

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© 2026 Jeremy Reynolds, all rights reserved.

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