In 2025, I didn't read as many books (see [[3. Synthesis/Lists/Reading List/Reading List|Reading List]]) as I did in the past two years. Listening to almost no audiobooks contributed to the biggest decrease in this number. Many big life changes also happened this year—graduating, moving across the country, big changes in personal relationships, changing my career plans, and starting a new job—which made for a stressful year. Of the two or three audiobooks I started, I finished one. I wanted to spend more time being bored—that is, not being stimulated by music, podcasts, or audiobooks—to see what it's like after watching [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orQKfIXMiA8). It's kinda wild that always being stimulated is the default, whereas dealing with boredom is a skill we need to learn. I also wanted to shift the balance between consumption and production more towards the production side. \*** There is no doubt listening to audiobooks is the easiest way to read more books. Case in point: Stetson (discovered him through Goodreads reviews) listened to [54 audiobooks out of all 82 books](https://stetson.substack.com/p/peanut-butter-boppers) consumed in 2025. But I'd like to read (instead of listen to) more books since I retain the material better and can annotate while reading, and I'm okay with the tradeoff of reading fewer total books. ## Papers Had so much fun reading papers this year! Grateful to be surrounded by people with great paper recommendation algorithms. Presenting papers in meetings helps with retention as well. ## Movies Did not watch many movies. Watching a whole 2.5-hour-long movie feels like too big of a commitment. Open to being convinced otherwise! ## Shows Did watch some great shows, though (see [[3. Synthesis/Lists/Media I enjoy|Media I enjoy]]), including The Bear, The Pitt, and Severance. Enjoyed some Netflix reality TV. ## what to consume in 2026? I really enjoyed *Invitation to a Banquet*. Inspired by The Bear and Culinary Class Wars, I want to read more books about food, cooking, and people in the culinary business in 2026, like - *The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef* by Marco Pierre White (youngest chef to win 3 Michelin stars) - I’m interested in understanding the character of someone who not only pursued excellence, but reached it and became the best in the world at his craft. People who operate at that level often have chaotic or complicated personal lives, and I want to read this book to understand the full story—not just the glory of winning three Michelin stars at such a young age, but everything that came with it, including the flip side shaped by the same relentless drive. - *Kitchen Confidential* by Anthony Bourdain - *Garlic and Sapphires*, written by food critic Ruth Reich. should be an interesting look into the other side of things (eating/critiquing vs. making and serving) - Maybe *Unreasonable Hospitality* - Related-ish, *Crying in H Mart* - *The Apprentice* by Jacques Pepin I want to watch Anthony Bourdain's travel shows and *Somebody Feed Phil*. I've already watched *The Chef Show* with Jon Favreau and *Chef*, the movie that inspired the show. More Alvin Zhou films documenting the stories of restaurant and cafe owners around the world. Just discovered Tasting History with Max Miller, this YouTube channel about dishes from around the world and their history! Fantastic combination. With all this information about books, shows, movies, and YouTube channels collected here, I think this warrants a new page just about cooking-related media. Behold: [[2. Concepts/Cooking Media]] More papers. More classics, fiction, short stories. More jazz guitar.