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Book List 2025

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By Rafferty Uy 4 min read

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”
~ Luke 16:10-12 ESV

As 2025 ends, my reflection brought me back to the beginning of my career, navigating life. My mom passed early, and my dad was always busy or tired, so I was left to figure things out on my own. Well, not completely on my own.

Thankfully, I have my church mentors and God’s word. One of the things I learned from a young age is that promotion is not about position or salary, but about growing in the scope of responsibilities. Being promoted in life is about being faithful with what I have—my job, my family, my finances, my health, my abilities, and my time. And as I focus on being faithful (by taking my responsibilities seriously and pursuing excellence), blessings will follow.

“A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”
~ Proverbs 28:20 ESV

Now, as I write this post and look through the books I read this year, I realize that this is what this year was about: promotions in many areas of life.

  • January started with greater responsibilities as I covered Australia more actively than ever before, working 60-80 hour weeks. It was tiring but extremely fulfilling. I was focused on being a better servant leader in my industry—a promotion in scope, not level or salary.
  • Around the same time, we received our 3rd Singapore PR rejection letter. It was heartbreaking. My wife and I thought that permanently settling in Singapore was our calling. We believed it so much that we had to go through the 5 stages of grief when that rejection letter came. But God had other plans, and here we are, back in Manila, with yet another promotion in life.
  • By July, we decided to move back to Manila despite having other options. A friend reminded us that God’s direction always has a “missional component,” and that simple advice clicked. God’s thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), so even if it didn’t make much sense, we obeyed and started with the preparations required.
  • All throughout, financial stewardship was critical. Last year’s aggressive investments worked well, so I now maintain a balanced portfolio with both conservative and higher-yield positions. And with Manila’s lower living costs, our financial freedom got a major promotion.

But all of these promotions didn’t come easily. We prayed, we cried, we sought counsel, we waited, and we remained faithful. And as I reflect on 2025, I am grateful for how God has been so faithful to us. Below are some of the books that helped me grow in faithfulness this year (in addition to the Bible, of course).

Personal Development

  1. Curiosity: The Secret Ingredient for Success in Personal and Professional Growth (2025)* by Stefaan van Hooydonk
  2. Simply Spirit-Filled: Experiencing God in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit (2019) by Andrew Gabriel

Professional Development and Leadership

  1. Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest (2023) by William Vanderbloemen (MUST READ)
  2. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration (2014)* by Ed Catmull
  3. Eloquence: The Hidden Secret of Words that Change the World (2021) by Peter D. Andrei (MUST READ)
  4. How AI Ate the World (2024)* by Chris Stokel-Walker
  5. How to Have That Difficult Conversation: Gaining the Skills for Honest and Meaningful Communication (2005) by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend
  6. What Is Job Crafting (2020)* by Catherine Moore
  7. Lead and Disrupt: How to Solve the Innovator’s Dilemma (2021)* by Charles O’Reilly III and Michael Tushman
  8. People Over Profit: Break the System, Live with Purpose, Be More Successful (2015) by Dale Partridge
  9. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade (2016) by Robert Cialdini
  10. The One Sentence Persuasion Course: 27 Words to Make the World Do Your Bidding (2012) by Blaire Warren
  11. Under Cover: Why Your Response to Leadership Determines Your Future (2018) by John Bevere

Personal Finance

  1. Freedom to Create Wealth: Finding Your Purpose, Living with Hope, Experiencing Success (2022) by Boni de Jesus
  2. Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy (2024)* by Teresa Ghilarducci

Mental Health

  1. Choosing Joy: The Secret to Living a Fully Christian Life (2012) by Dan Lord
  2. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature (2017) by Peter Scazzero
  3. God on Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer (2007) by Pete Greig
  4. I See You: A Guide for Women to Make More, Have More, and Be More — Without More Work (2024)* by Amy Kemp
  5. Win the Inside Game: How to Move from Surviving to Thriving, and Free Yourself Up to Perform (2025)* by Steve Magness

Others

  1. AI Engineering: Building Applications with Foundation Models (2025)* by Chip Huyen
  2. Banking as a Service: Opportunities, Challenges, and Risks of New Banking Business Models (2024)* by Jason Mikula
  3. Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (2023)* by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson

Books with * (suffix) were summaries read from GetAbstract.com

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