Books & Readings
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Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology, Chris Miller
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The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, Amy Webb
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Autocracy, Inc., Anne Applebaum
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Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment, Jason Schreier
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The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology, Amy Webb
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Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone, Satya Nadella
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From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, Michael McFaul
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The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet, Jeff Jarvis
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The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource, Chris Hayes
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Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, Sarah Wynn-Williams
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Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror, Michael Hayden
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Beneath a Surface, Brad Sams
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America’s New Map, Thomas P.M. Barnett
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Facts & Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence, James Clapper
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On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari
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Who Knew, Barry Diller
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Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe, Astrid Lorenz & Lisa H. Anders
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AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence, Gary Rivlin
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Nuclear War: A Scenario, Annie Jacobsen
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Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television, Todd Purdum
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No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, Reed Hastings & Erin Meyer
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Building a Second Brain, Tiago Forte
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Electrify: An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future, Saul Griffith
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Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You, Ali Abdaal
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Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate, Spencer Rascoff & Stan Humphries
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Magazine, Jeff Jarvis
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Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Economy, Patrick McGee
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Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and Liberty, Hillary Clinton
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A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, James Comey
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107 Days, Kamala Harris
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Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language, Adam Aleksic
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Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism, Rachel Maddow
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Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less, Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, & Roy Schwartz
The Complete Listing of my Readings Throughout 2025
After reading 35 books this year, on a diverse set of topics, I’ve learned a lot and blew away my own goals and expectations for 2025.
I’ve included a link from Goodreads, summarizing all that I’ve read. You’ll notice titles that discuss AI & technology, biographies, business & management, and international relations.
For more information about what I’ve read this year, you can find summaries from my Goodreads account.
An (Almost) End to 2025 Update — 2026 Goals
🎊 As we approach the end of another year, as professionals, learners, and citizens of the world; we must look back at what we have accomplished in 2025 and what we hope to accomplish in 2026.
📖 By the time 2026 rolls around, I would have completed a total of 35 books read. This is a personal record for me, and something I’m personally proud of. I’ve learned a lot in the fields of technology, business, economics, international relations (and even threw in some autobiographies for good measure!)
✍ The fact you’re reading this now means I’ve followed through on writing more. Earlier this year, I created a new blog at my website and attempted to post as frequently as I can. While I’ve wavered a bit at this, I believe that I’ve written the most words in one year than I ever have since attending college.
💼 What do I hope to accomplish in 2026? That’s more complicated. I will continue my push for gainful employment that not only teaches me new skills, but an entity where I can bring my own skillset to the table. (Despite being dealt many blows, I have not given up!)
↗️ I will continue to work on my own health by maintaining a healthy weight, stress-levels, mental and financial health. All of the above work hand-in-hand to improving one’s life. Lastly, I’ve slacked a bit since I moved to Jersey City, but I’d love to get back into volunteering for the community — whether it be poverty alleviation, environmental, or political. When inspiration strikes or opportunities rise, I’ll keep you apprised.
A Quick Note on "Apple in China" by Patrick McGee
Finished reading: Apple in China by Patrick McGee 📚
📚 After reading “Apple in China” by Patrick McGee, it was reiterated why Apple slowing moving manufacturing to low-cost contract manufacturers like Foxconn and Pegatron over decades, competed on low to zero margin businesses – just to gain the competitive advantage and knowledge of how to produce such complex products themselves.
🏭 This how Chinese firms such as Huawei and Xiaomi were able to make better phones at lower costs, and how BYD was able to pivot to EVs in such a quicker and more innovative fashion.
📱 Apple taught the Chinese government and assemblers (a little too well) about the manufacturing process, thus allowing them to compete on the global stage to grab footholds in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with much better products, capabilities and price-points.
✅ It was a wonderful read if you’re into technology, supply chains, and long-term geopolitical consequences. I highly recommend this read.
Finished reading: Zillow Talk by Spencer Rascoff 📚
Reading Update: The First Half of 2025
Below are some of the highlights of my readings for the first half of the year. As I’m always on a journey of knowlege of self-improvement, I enjoy delving in to a variety of topics. Society has pinned the individual as becoming an expert in one field, while neglecting the whole person, including the humanities and soft skills!
If you’ve been following my micro.blog (this site), you’ve noticed that the Bookshelves features allow me to post when I’ve completed a read. This is a culmination of those.
Who Knew by Barry Diller: A fresh read completed just yesterday! The biography of a media mogul who ran companies such as ABC, Paramount, Fox, QVC and more.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari: A thought-provoking, delving into the challenges of our current era.
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder: A crucial and vital read on safeguarding democracy.
Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence by James Clapper: Gaining insights from the accomplished intelligence professional who ran the ODNI and other agencies.
America’s New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett: Exploring geopolitical shifts and their implications discussing free-trade, climate change, and international cooperation.
Beneath a Surface by Brad Sams: A deep dive into the intricacies of introducing and developing the Microsoft Surface, at the time, a new line of product.
Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror by Michael Hayden: Understanding the complexities of intelligence operations.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams: A compelling narrative about ambition and its consequences at Meta and it’s various properties.
The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes: A timely reflection on our most valuable resource.
The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet by Jeff Jarvis: Connecting historical media shifts to our digital present.
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb: A critical look at the future of AI and its impact; highly focused on the United States vs. China.
From Cold War To Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia by Michael McFaul: Essential reading on modern international relations.
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella: Inspiring leadership and corporate transformation.
The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology by Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel: Exploring the frontiers of synthetic biology.
Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier: A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the gaming industry.
Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum: A crucial examination of the rise of authoritarian regimes.
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller: Understanding the geopolitical battle for semiconductors.
I’m currently reading two more titles, and hopefully I’ll find the time to keep it up through the remainder of the year! I will be looking forward to making a second half ‘25 post on what’s next.
Experiences Using Micro.blog so Far in 2025
It’s been a few months now since I started using Micro.blog as my main website and posting service, so I thought I would take some time to reflect upon it.
To start, I was looking for a replacement for WordPress given all of the drama over at Automatic, the owners, but it wasn’t only that. I was writing less and just paying for hosting, so it no longer was fit for my needs. I was able to seamlessly transfer existing posts to Micro.blog and also save some money in the process. I signed up for the Micro.one service, which only cost $10 a year, not counting my domain which I pay for through Hover. This alone saved a little money and accurately reflecting how infrequently I was using it.
I like how easy the UI is just to type and post. I can choose to make my posts as easily as a quick 300 limit post, or as long as I want to fulfill the purposes of my articles. I will eventually learn Markdown so I can really start organizing my posts and keep them uniform, but that will come later.
There’s one last feature I appreciate and that’s called, “Bookshelves”. It’s analogous to Goodreads and allows you to keep track of what you’re reading, want to read, and have completed. What I like is it gives you the option to make a post around it as sort of posting your thoughts around the book or making it easier to write a book review if you wish. While I only post which books I finish and use it to keep track, it’s had one more benefit – I’ve read the most this year, so far, that I have at any time since college.
When I made my goals for the beginning of the year, reading more was not on my “to-do” list, but it happened, and I’m grateful for the feature for inspiring me to do so. I made a goal of 12 books, which I’ve already blown past. I will l likely create a post later this year about what stood out to me so far about what I’ve read.
To make a long story short, I’m loving this service and its features. I’m able to utilize the easy UI/UX so I just write and post. As a result, I find myself posting a bit more than I did over at WordPress. It might not be as full featured, but if you just want to start writing and cross posting to other services, Micro.blog gives you everything you need – well, at least what my needs have become.
Use Your Public Library — A Case in Always Be Learning
In the United States, we often take our public libraries for granted. The old days of going to a physical location to check out a limited number of books, having to keep track of due dates by hand are long gone, yet many of us seem to forget that all of these institutions have been in the digital age for quite some time.
In my reading journeys last year, over half of my books read either came in eBook or audiobook forms with lots of other free materials to spare (mostly through Libby). You can easily download materials to your eBook reader or listen to audio within the app. In most cases, it isn’t just limited to Kindle devices. Be sure to check the available formats for a specific title before checking it out.
I read 35 books last year and so far in 2026, I’ve completed my third title. This makes it easier than ever to consume relevant and interesting content. I’d still like to keep my goal in that general ballpark.
With lots of us cutting back on spending (I spent incredibly too much money on physical books in 2025), it’s time that we reconsider what we already pay for in taxes. If you don’t use your library, your city, county or municipality will notice and ultimately decrease funding based on lack of use.
Often the benefits go beyond this. I’ll take my library, The Jersey City Free Public Library as an example. Just the other day, I received an email announcing that they had struck a deal with LinkedIn Learning for free use of over 16,000 courses and experiences, with even more on the way as the program rolls out. Currently, my library system also utilizes Udemy and various other learning-on-demand platforms as a service to you.
As many of you know, I’m an advocate of the ABL (Always Be Learning) methodology. If you aren’t constantly learning, you’re falling behind. That affects your job prospects, promotions, and voiding yourself of crucial skills, especially in the era of GenAI.
Between Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Hoopla, Libby, and various other tools at your disposal, you can arm yourself with opportunities to succeed in today’s rapidly changing global economy. At the very least you can utilize Kanopy to view different films from a variety of genres.
To some of this, utilizing such a public resource may seem like a no-brainer, but if that’s the case, why aren’t more of us doing it? Limited funding and outreach can often to be to blame, so we must continue to do the work to spread the goodwill of these wonderful institutions for ourselves and future generations.
I’m curious to know how you currently use your library’s offerings. Please comment below on tools you’ve utilized or what you’d additions you’d like to see included.
Michael Martinez is a freelance strategic analyst and writer with experience in non-profit, government, and data. He has degrees in business management and intelligence management. He is also an AmeriCorps VISTA alumnus. You can read more of his work at michaelmartinez.co.
This article was originally published as a LinkedIn article on February 14, 2026.