The “Invisible” Library: A 2025 Year-in-Review

We’ve all been there: staring at a half-finished book on the nightstand, feeling that little sting of guilt that we “should be reading more.” I spent most of 2025 convinced I was falling behind on my reading goals.

Then I actually looked at the data.

Between commutes, quiet mornings, and late-night audiobook sessions, I consumed 8,140 pages and roughly 234 hours of content. That’s not “falling behind.” That’s reps. And if you’re feeling like you aren’t reading enough, there’s a decent chance you’re building your own invisible library, too. It just isn’t showing up in the way you’re measuring it.

So here’s what defined my 2025, and why it mattered more than I expected.

The High-Stakes Tactical Deep Dive: Systems vs. Individuals

A big chunk of my year lived in the worlds of Tom Clancy and Jason Bourne. Clancy’s technical precision is weirdly meditative. From the geopolitical chessboard of Rainbow Six and Without Remorse to the gritty, amnesiac survival of The Bourne Identity, one theme kept surfacing: systems vs. individuals.

These stories aren’t just about espionage. They’re about navigating (or dismantling) complex machines: bureaucracy, incentives, secrecy, power, policy, pressure. If you’ve ever worked inside a large organization, you know the feeling.

Why it matters for marketers: Most “strategy problems” are really system problems. Great work doesn’t fail because the idea was bad. It fails because handoffs break, incentives collide, data is missing, approvals stall, or nobody owns the messy middle.

What to do with it: pick one “system” in your work (briefing, content ops, measurement, approvals, governance) and map it like a thriller plot. Who are the actors? What are the bottlenecks? What’s the one chokepoint you could fix in 30 days?

Hoops, Obsession, and Mastery: Two Models of Greatness

The hoops stack was a highlight. Reading Roland Lazenby’s Showboat (Kobe Bryant) alongside Larry Bird’s Drive gave me two very different pictures of mastery and leadership:

The Kobe way: radical isolation, “Mamba Mentality,” and outworking everyone to an almost terrifying degree.

The Bird way: instinct, blue-collar grit, and a quieter, confident mastery that didn’t need a spotlight.

Then I kept it grounded with the USA Basketball Coaching Guide, which is basically a reminder that fundamentals are undefeated.

Why it matters for marketers: we mythologize “genius” and underestimate boring excellence. The best teams aren’t powered by one hero. They’re powered by repeatable fundamentals: clear positioning, consistent production, strong feedback loops, and relentless improvement.

What to do with it: decide what mastery means for you this quarter. Not “be better at marketing,” but one specific fundamental:

• Write cleaner briefs.

• Build a reusable reporting cadence.

• Improve your interviewing and customer insight muscle.

• Ship one asset per week for eight weeks.

Mastery shows up when you can do the basics under pressure.

The Macro-View: Wealth and World Orders

I spent real time in the “big picture” this year. Scott Galloway’s The Algebra of Wealth and Ray Dalio’s How Countries Go Broke (still in progress) are sobering in a useful way.

Galloway’s takeaway: wealth isn’t about being “rich.” It’s about the absence of economic anxiety.

Dalio’s takeaway: history rhymes, and we’re living through a loud stanza of the big cycle.

Why it matters for marketers: when the macro shifts, budgets shift. So do buyer behaviors, channels, and the internal tolerance for experimentation. You don’t need to be an economist, but you do need a framework that keeps you from reacting emotionally to every headline.

What to do with it: build a simple “macro filter” before you make big moves:

• What’s changing in customer risk tolerance right now?

• What’s changing inside your company’s incentive structure?

• Where can you protect downside while still learning fast?

4. Palette Cleansers: Poetry and Classics
   To keep from burning out on spy thrillers and economic collapse, I leaned into the small moments of Billy Collins (Musical Tables and Horoscopes for the Dead). They’re the perfect antidote to 800-page doorstoppers.

I also revisited the original versions of The Jungle Book and Peter Pan. It’s a reminder that the Disney versions of our childhood stories often smooth out the raw, darker, more complex themes in the originals.

Why it matters for marketers: your creative brain needs contrast. If you only consume “useful” content, you eventually lose the edge that makes your work feel human.

What to do with it: add one “palette cleanser” to your learning stack. Something with texture: poetry, fiction, history, art, memoir. It keeps you sharp in ways dashboards can’t.

The 2025 final stats

• Total pages: 8,140

• Total audio hours: 234

• Heavy hitters: Tom Clancy (6 titles), Robert Ludlum/Brian Freeman (2 titles)

The lesson

Stop worrying about the “should,” and start tracking the “did.” You’re probably further along than you realize.

Question for you: what’s in your invisible library right now (podcasts, audiobooks, long reads, courses)? Hit reply and tell me one thing you learned in 2025 that actually changed how you work.