Books

In 2025 I read 16 books. These were the best three:

The Anxious Generation

Jon Haidt shows how harmful the influence of smartphones is for younger children (under sixteen). He therefore advocates, backed by scientific research, to keep smartphones and social media away from children as much as possible. The harmful effects of gaming are also discussed, but I think the nuance could be emphasized better. Gaming itself is not a problem, but it becomes toxic when mixed with the online aspect (always wanting to play the next game) and gambling elements like lootboxes.

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

This sometimes rather esoteric guide by Julia Cameron gave me a new morning ritual. Namely Morning Pages. Every morning I write three pages about everything that comes to mind. This helps me give more direction to my creativity.

How Not to Diet

I've read many books about eating, but none as comprehensive as Michael Greger's. His shocking advice for a better diet pattern, hold your hats, is: eat lots of vegetables, fruits, legumes and fiber. Avoid calorie-rich drinks and eat as little animal fat as possible. His plea for a vegan lifestyle has resulted in about ninety percent of what I eat being plant-based.

TV Series

The Rehearsal

Nathan Fielder was back this year with a second season, the first season was already on my 2023 list, and I can rightfully say this is the best thing I've ever seen on television. One moment I'm laughing and the next I want to crawl behind the couch from secondhand embarrassment. With each episode my amazement grew and I couldn't believe what happened in the final episode. This sounds like clickbait but I don't want to spoil anything. Go watch it.

Adolescence

Last year Boiling Point was on my list as best film of 2024. The same director, Philip Barantini, made this series and used the same technique where the entire episode consists of one scene. Thanks to the good acting and gripping story, I wanted to forget that moment while watching, which makes the achievement doubly impressive.

Slow Horses

I binged all five seasons (six episodes per season) of this unusual British spy series in one month. This was mainly due to the brilliant character Jackson Lamb played by Gary Oldman. I read somewhere a review saying that when they shoot this is the worst series ever, but as soon as they talk it's the best. I completely agree.

Inside No. 9

In the ninth and final season, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton bring us six unique stories. Each episode stands completely on its own and it's therefore so impressive that most episodes manage to captivate from start to finish. My favorite was episode three where the entire story is told through a doorbell camera.

Films

Good Time

This film is one big nervous trip by director Ben Safdie (later known for Uncut Gems) that isn't boring for a moment. Robert Pattinson's acting is also noteworthy.

BlackBerry

Not necessarily the best film ever, but I always enjoy romanticized accounts of historical events, in this case the rise and fall of BlackBerry.

Anatomy of a Fall

A man falls out a window shortly after arguing with his wife. Did she push him? This film is long, two and a half hours, but is never boring.

Games

Hades II

I was hopelessly addicted to Hades and this sequel also consumed plenty of free hours. In terms of gameplay and graphics there's little difference between the two games, but Hades was already the nearly perfect game. There was no reason to make major changes here. So it's much of the same, which in the case of Hades II is completely fine.

Death Stranding

Death Stranding is weird stuff. One moment you're walking through an idyllic landscape with Woodkid in the background and the next you're trying to shoot a golden tar whale out of the sky. The game can be very slow at times, mainly the cutscenes can feel endless, but if you can handle that a bit then you can marvel at the beautiful graphics and bizarre situations and characters.

Clair Obscure: Expedition 33

I had never played a JRPG before so for me it took a while to figure out how it exactly works. Especially the dodge and parry system had quite a learning curve for me. However, this is more than made up for by the atmosphere the game exudes. The fact that it was sometimes quite difficult, probably because I was fighting final bosses at too low a level, I actually found challenging. For me this is my game of the year.