I have always wanted to be a reader.

Before you try to be funny and ask… Yes, I can read. I just don’t do it often. I want to be a *consistent* reader.

I’ve gone through spurts of being a reader, but it never really stuck. Normally, those spurts were caused by a good series. In middle school, it was a series like The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner. In high school, it was Harry Potter. This past year it was Red Rising. After I finished each of these series, I had the desire to keep reading and find another good series, but I never did.

Every once in a while, I would read one-off books like some Christian theology book or a self-help book. And even if I didn’t love the book or get much out of it, I always wanted to find another book and keep reading. If I did like the book, then that feeling was even stronger.

For one reason or another, I just never committed to being a consistent reader. When trying to assign blame for this, it would be stupid to blame outside forces. It’s simply just that I didn’t have the discipline to make time to read. It’s my fault. Okay? Are you happy I admitted it? I won’t play the victim card and blame it on my parents giving me a DS and Xbox when I was younger, or blame it on the brain rot generation I grew up in, or blame it on the school system for making us read boring books and try to analyze fabricated themes that the authors never actual intentioned.

Out of all the semi-valid excuses I can make, I genuinely can’t blame my parents or the school system. When I was younger, my parents would pay me to read books. I would make $1 for every book I read. Needless to say, I was rich as a kid. That was my parents’ way of encouraging me to read. The school system and my teachers had their own methods of encouraging reading. The school system used AR points and rewards, and my teachers gave us free periods to read during classes. Despite all the encouragement, support, and desire I had to become a reader, I never followed through.

Which that is stupid of me because of all the types of media there are, I would argue books have the most benefits. They can be just as entertaining as the best video games or movies, if not more so. They contain more knowledge and wisdom than even the best documentaries or YouTube videos. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for my video games and tv shows, so there will always be a place for those. But books are something special. God himself gave us his teachings in book form. All this to say, books are worth prioritizing and making more time for in my life.

This year I am dedicated to being a reader.

What really put me on this quest was a YouTube video I watched by PewDiePie. It was a video about a book club he was starting in 2025. He talked about how reading completely changed his life and who he was. This video came into my recommended feed right at a time when I had that intense desire to be a reader but wasn’t willing to commit. Hearing Pewds talk about these books made me want to commit to reading for a year and I figured it would be easy to read the books he recommended and follow along with his book club. He chose a book for almost every month of the year, and every third month, you would get to choose your own book to read. The books he chose were all philosophy or historical books like a book about Buddha or the Iliad. These books intrigued me since they were very different from what I would commonly read, and I figured I might find some sort of value in them.

But then I actually read one of them…

January’s book was Tao Te Ching. Its author was allegedly a man named Lao Tzu who lived for over 200 years and was born with white hair. In his old age, he fled his home due to war and before disappearing, a guard stopped him and made him write down his teachings so they weren’t lost to time. What came out of that is 81 poems of “wisdom tradition.” Or what I would call a bunch of mumbo jumbo ancient brain rot.

I hated this book. It felt like the old man was trying to be quirky and special in all his teachings. I can confidently say I got nothing new out of this book. Thankfully, it only took an hour and a half to read. I decided after reading this book that I would not make it through PewDiePie’s book club if this was the type of book he would be recommending.

So I decided to start my own book club.

Now, I know this is likely a book club of one, but if any of you 5 readers of my blog are interested in joining me, I would be delighted. You don’t have to read all the same books as me either. I’m mainly trying to form a habit of reading. So if you’re in that same boat, please join me. I’ve decided that my goal this year is to read 30 books. That’s 2 books a month plus 6 extra. As of writing this blog in early-ish January, I have already read 3 books. So I’m on a good pace.

I’m going to do kinda what PewDiePie did for his book club and choose one book for each month, and if you’re following along, then you get 4 book swaps. So if there is a book I’ve chosen that you don’t want to read or you’ve already read, then you can use a book swap and choose your own book for that month. This equates to the same amount of books that Pewds is letting people choose every third month.

I’m planning on choosing either psychology, Christian, or self-help books for the book club. And the other 18 books I’m going to read this year will be fiction books that are purely for entertainment. These are what I’m calling my “Fun Books.”

The Fun Book series I’m starting now is the Stormlight Archives. I’ve been personally recommended it many times recently and have also seen it mentioned in multiple YouTube videos in the past month. It all felt like God had been telling me to read this series. I just started the first book in the series. So if you’d like to join me on that journey also, I’d love to have the company.

Now here’s the exciting part. The reveal of the 12 books of 2025!

January: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Frick by Mark Manson

This might seem like a weird one to start out with, and I would agree with that. The story behind it is that Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback for the NY Jets, loves it and says it changed his life. I’m always intrigued when people say a book changed their life. This book kinda went mainstream for a few months, but I haven’t heard much about it recently. The main reason I’m starting out with this one is because I’ve already read 15% of it. It’s been about 7 months since I picked it up though.

The main premise of the books is putting your energy and emotions into the things that actually matter in life instead of wasting them on the small things that commonly draw out negative emotions. I’ve liked what I read so far despite having to balance it with Christian truths. There are definitely some similarities between this book and Christian teachings which you wouldn’t expect. I’ll explain that more when I finish it and blog about it. Oh, did I mention that I’d be blogging about all these books also?

And fair warning, there are a lot of cuss words in this book.

February: Crazy Love by Francis Chan

This book has been super popular in the Christian circles I run with. I’ve only heard very positive things about it. My wonderful girlfriend got me a copy of it for Christmas so I don’t even have to spend money on it. There’s a whole website that goes along with this book where the author explains the various chapters. Not sure if I’ll end up using that, but I’ll probably try it out.

March: Good Energy by Casey and Calley Means

I’m fully expecting this book to change my life. I was first introduced to the Means siblings from a Tucker Carlson podcast. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about it if you know me IRL. I don’t say this often, but this podcast changed my life. Specifically, it changed my view of health and the medical industry as a whole. Summed up, American citizens are made to be as unhealthy as possible by the food industry, then they become lifetime patients for the medical industry, and instead of resolving the core issues, the medical industry sends their patients to the pharmaceutical industry creating a cycle of making money off of the unhealthy. This podcast made me make serious changes in my life. This book should build off of the information in that podcast so I’m excited for my eyes to be opened even more.

April: The Defining Decade by Meg Jay

I don’t know too much about this book. I heard about this when talking to my girlfriend's mom. She heard about it from a girl she sat next to on a plane when flying home from Spain last summer. Apparently, it changed that girl’s life. And I figured that since I’m in my early twenties and it feels like a defining decade, I’ll give it a read.

May: Atomic Habits by James Clear

This book has to be good right? It is so heavily advertised in bookstores. Trust me on that, one of my friends sends a picture of this book every time she’s in a bookstore. The only connection I have to this book is from a funny story. I was on a mission trip in Mexico and one of the girls on the team was reading this. One night while most of us were trying to go to sleep, she stayed up to read it. There was this younger guy on the team who was at the table with her. She started reading it out loud and asking the guy super intrusive and personal questions from the book. It was super out of pocket, but it was so funny to listen to his reactions while we were trying to fall asleep. It’s really one of those stories that you just had to be there for.

Anyway, I struggle with making good habits in my life so hopefully, this book will help.

June: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

This is another book that I’ve started but haven’t finished. It is written from the perspective of two demons writing to each other and how they are trying to tempt humans. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book and I’m looking forward to starting it again. I find it so interesting that this book is written from the perspective of demons so that we may gain the wisdom to fight our temptations by knowing the schemes that the devil uses.

July: The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

This book was also recommended by my girlfriend’s mom. She’s been trying to get my girlfriend to read it for a while now. According to Wikipedia, this book argues that the spread of smartphones, social media, and overprotective parenting has led to a "rewiring" of childhood and a rise in mental illness. I am very anti-social-media and anti-iPad-kid so this sounds right up my alley.

August: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

We are sticking with the theme of C.S. Lewis's books for the month of July. This is another Christian classic. I think I own 2-3 copies of this book for some reason. I’ve read through it a little bit, but I’d like to do a dedicated read-through of it. I don’t know too much about C.S. Lewis other than he wrote the Narnia books, he’s written some really popular Christian books, and he has some interesting theology. Looking forward to finally reading this one.

September: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

My boss actually recommended this book to me. She is very wise so I highly value her recommendations. I’ve also heard about this book before. I couldn't tell you when or where I’ve heard about it, but I know I have. This is right along the lines of Atomic Habits and wanting to make better habits in my life. This won’t be the last book in this book club that’s about that either.

October: Everything is Fricked by Mark Mason

This is the follow-up book to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Frick. I have no clue what to expect from this book. Apparently, it is a book about hope. The only reason this is on the list is because I accidentally bought the set of both this and the first book instead of just buying the first one. So we’ll see how this one goes. It may be the only flop on this list. But, hey, I’ll give it a fair shot.

November: The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

This is the only book on this list that I have already read and finished. It will have been around 5 years since I last read it by this November. This is a book that I would also say changed my life and my Christian walk. It is such an on-the-nose, simple analogy, but it is so powerful. If you haven’t read this book, I could not recommend it more. There are two parts to this book. The first part is about a father leaving his family and entire life behind to make it to Heaven. The second part is about his wife and kids following his path to get to Heaven. I rarely cry from anything, but the second half of this book had me in tears.

There are two versions of this book. One is written in old English and the other is modernized. The old English is more powerful but harder to understand. The modernized version is much easier to follow along with. I read the first part of the book in old English and the second part in modern English. My preference was the modern version but choose at your own discretion.

December: 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson

This book is written by the Daily Wire commentator and scholar Jordan Peterson. This book will end the theme and series of habit-related books this year. I’ve owned this book for many years now, but have never gotten around to reading it. I’m pretty sure one of the rules in this book is to make your bed every day. I’m intrigued to see the psychology behind that one. Hopefully, by the end of this year, I will have made a lot of solid habits in my life, including making my bed.

I’m really looking forward to this whole next year and becoming a reader. It’s so easy to zoom out on life when making a yearly plan like this. It makes life feel like it’s going to be easy and that it will go by quickly. But I know so much is going to happen over the next year. At times, this year will feel like it’s going by slowly and I’ll be facing trials and tribulations. At times, this year will feel like it’s flying by and I’ll be making many epic memories. But I know that despite whatever happens this year, I’ll have my book club books by my side. (And hopefully some fellow book club members!!!)

The Best Book Club to Join in 2025