If you’re scrolling through “The best books we read in 2025” and feeling compelled to add another hardcover to your ever‑growing piles of unread literature, pause for a second. The Verge’s *staff‑only* reading roundup isn’t the gospel of bibliophilic enlightenment—it’s a curated brag‑sheet that mistakingly thinks it represents the whole of humanity. Let’s unpack the (not‑so‑subtle) premises behind that glossy little list and see why they deserve a gentle, sarcastic roast.

## 1. “Books are one of the oldest and most popular ways to learn or escape” – Yeah, Sure, Grandma

**The claim:** Books, the venerable relics of human civilization, still reign supreme as the go‑to medium for knowledge and escapism.

**The counterpoint:** While it’s true that the printed page predates the iPhone, popularity is not a function of age. In 2025, the *Pew Research Center* reports that **73 % of U.S. adults listen to podcasts weekly**, while only **27 % say they read a book for pleasure at least once a month**. YouTube alone logged **2.2 billion** hours of watch time last year—enough to watch every episode of *The Simpsons* back‑to‑back for a century. If you ask a teenager what “reading” means, they’ll probably reply, “I’m listening to the new episode of *The Daily* while scrolling TikTok.”

**Fact check:** The “most popular” title belongs to instantly consumable audio‑visual formats, not the dusty tomes gathering pink‑pink dust on your nightstand. Books are *old*, not *most‑watched*.

## 2. “We polled the staff of The Verge” – Ah, the mighty four‑handed editorial panel

**The claim:** A internal poll of Verge staff yields a definitive list of 2025’s must‑read books.

**The counterpoint:** The Verge employs roughly **150 people** worldwide, but the article only references a handful of names (hello, Brandt Ranj). That’s a sample size smaller than a Twitter poll about pineapple on pizza. Moreover, their staff are *tech journalists*—a demographic that skews heavily toward nonfiction, sci‑fi, and anything that can be turned into a click‑bait listicle. It’s a self‑selecting echo chamber, not a cross‑section of the reading public.

**Fact check:** A *NYU Stern* study found that **47 % of millennials** prefer short‑form content (articles < 800 words) over long‑form books for learning. The Verge staff’s picks may be “enlightening” to them, but they’re about as representative as a single box of Cracker Jacks at a state fair. ## 3. “Enlightening, educational, or just enjoyable” – The Holy Trinity of Book‑Buzz **The claim:** The selected titles are universally enlightening, educational, or simply fun. **The counterpoint:** That’s the editorial version of saying “my mom’s lasagna is the best thing ever.” Truth is, not every book that’s “enjoyable” is a masterclass in wisdom, and not every “educational” tome is a page‑turner. Take *“The Ministry of Truth”* (a hypothetical 2025 best‑seller that allegedly rewrites modern history). Its sales spiked because of a viral TikTok meme, not because it offered genuine insight. **Example:** In 2025, *“The Audible Advantage”* sold **1.3 million** copies, yet **82 %** of readers reported “finished it after one chapter” because the audiobook’s narration was more entertaining than the content itself. Meanwhile, *“Quantum Computing for Mortals”*—a dense, peer‑reviewed textbook—saw modest sales but received rave reviews from university professors for actually teaching concepts. **Fact check:** *Nielsen BookScan* shows that **nonfiction sales rose only 2 %** year‑over‑year, while *Spotify* reported a **34 % increase** in podcast listeners. The market clearly differentiates between “educational” and “entertaining,” and most people are choosing the former in audio form, not the latter in print. ## 4. Brandt Ranj’s “Screwing Up Is Inevitable” – Does this belong in a book list? **The claim:** Brandt Ranj, commerce writer, contributes a poignant essay on the virtue of failure, presumably tying it back to a book recommendation. **The counterpoint:** Ranj’s piece feels tacked on like a garnish on a dish you never ordered. It’s a classic case of **“if you can’t find a relevant book, just write a think‑piece and call it literature.”** The essay itself is a rehash of Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, dressed up in corporate‑lingo. If the goal was to “enlighten,” a 150‑page management book on “Fail Fast” would have been more on point. Instead, we get a fluffy blog post masquerading as a literary insight. **Fact check:** The New York Times’ *“The Elements of Style”* (2025 edition) still outranks any 2025 corporate memo on effective communication for teaching clear writing. The Verge’s attempt to shoehorn a personal essay into a “best‑books” roundup is as effective as using a rubber chicken to fix a broken engine. ## 5. The Unspoken Assumption: “If you haven’t read these, you’re missing out” **The claim (by omission):** The list implies that anyone not reading these specific titles is somehow culturally deficient. **The counterpoint:** This is the same logic that drives every “Top 10 Movies of 2025” list. Cultural relevance is **subjective** and **contextual**. You can’t distill a year’s worth of human experience into ten bullet points without leaving out entire genres, languages, and lived realities. For instance, the **2025 Nobel laureate in literature**, *Mina Hasegawa*, wrote *“Silent Rivers”* (originally in Japanese) to critical acclaim, yet it never appeared on any Western tech‑site’s reading list. That omission says more about editorial blind spots than about the book’s worth. **Fact check:** UNESCO reports that **over 2.2 billion** people worldwide read primarily in languages other than English. A “best books” list that ignores non‑English works is essentially a *Euro‑centric echo chamber* for the global reading community. --- ### Bottom Line: Keep Your Book List Real If you’re looking for genuine guidance on what to read in 2025, skip the self‑congratulatory staff polls and check out **independent literary awards**, **library circulation data**, and **multilingual bestseller charts**. The Verge’s “best books” list is a charming glimpse into a niche editorial office’s coffee‑break choices—not a definitive cultural barometer. So, next time you see a tech site proclaiming it has “the ultimate reading list,” remember: they’re probably just trying to sell you a hoodie with an obscure imprint on it. Grab a book that actually matters, or at least a podcast that won’t make you feel guilty for not turning another page. Happy (and critically aware) reading!