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# 2025 mid-year books
- URL: https://www.cesarrg.com/2025-mid-year-books/
- Published: 2025-08-28T15:00:29.000Z
- Updated: 2025-08-28T15:06:08.000Z
- Author: César Rodríguez
- Tags: Books

#263 - Aug.2025

A bit late for a mid-year book review but I didn’t want to skip this simple ritual, as in [previous years.](https://www.cesarrg.com/tag/books/)

I’m writing this post with a vacation vibe. I’m currently taking some days off to recharge. Menorca has been a great host for this!

Before we get into the mid-year book checkpoint, wanted to share a couple of reflections of ideas that had been shaping my reading this year.

- Understanding our humanity. In the middle of a tech/AI rush it’s easy to forget the basics: What makes us human?
- Technology leverage.What leverage can we get from today’s technologies to tackle the most challenging world problems?
- Humans abilities. What are the [skills](https://www.cesarrg.com/humans-are-needed/) that will make the difference in a future where we delegate many daily tasks to machines?

I think this is why I’ve been revisiting a couple of books that I read in the past. When you like a book, reading them again gives you new perspectives; they outlive their times and become recurrent sources of inspiration!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2025/08/CRG-Books-1.png)

These are the books I’ve read so far in 2025:

1. **Awareness** (Anthony de Mello): Reading this book to start every year has become a routine! De Mello teaches that most of our suffering comes from wanting reality to be different than it is.
2. **A Morte é um Dia Que Vale a Pena Viver** (Ana Cláudia Quintana Arantes): A profound book. The author explains how death teaches us how to live by forcing us to confront what truly matters.
3. **How to Take Smart Notes** (Sönke Ahrens): If you are a productivity hacker this could be for you. Over the years I’ve struggle to organize my notes and this bring a very practical approach to solve this problem.
4. **Redescubrir la vida** (Anthony de Mello): 2nd book of De Mello. Great perspective of what life is about and the power of wonder.
5. **Ways of Seeing** (John Berger): This was an interesting book that navigates across different art disciplines and how to teach your eyes on how to “see” beyond the common appearances.
6. **La ciudad y los perros** (Mario Vargas Llosa): What a novel! It’s like being in a movie. A powerful and engaging story that only Vargas Llosa was able to put together in such a beautiful prose.
7. **Nexus** (Yuval Noah Harari): This was a long and insightful book. Harari has been famous for calling out the risks about AI. I was curious to understand why. The book makes a good job explaining the reasons. Some of them I truly agree.
8. **Design as Art** (Bruno Munari): Another re-read of this year, returning to the basics of design. Good design isn’t decoration; it’s communication that makes life more meaningful and accessible.
9. **The Prosperity Paradox** (Clayton M. Christensen): This book is eye-opening about what true innovation is about and the power of new markets that are often ignored by many people. Opportunities often come from the “non-consumers”.
10. **Seven Brief Lessons on Physics** (Carlo Rovelli): A short and engaging book that bring simplicity over the complexity (and beauty) of our universe and the fundamental laws that control it.

Happy reading! ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 

¡Saludos!

![César Rodríguez](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2024/09/image-2.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/10/f4/10f4a52f-1b7d-4284-b66d-0fccfd9dc5da/content/images/2024/02/CR_sign_2024-3.png) 

**César Rodríguez**  
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