2026 is just one day away from us, or even less if you count by the hours. This year I had a lot of new knowledge acquired, from learning how to do skeletal animations to making a game with something other than RPG Maker! (Please do check Treat the World)

So 2025 has been a very productive one learning-wise, but something must come with a cost. I usually read around 40-50 books every year, be it fictional or non-fiction. This time, I only managed to read less than 10 books. That's not even 1 book a month!

That is why I made my own reading menu for 2026. In hope that I will still be able to finish a good amount of book while being busy.

So, what book am I going to read in January? It's this:

Freakonomics by Levitt & Dubner

Apparently it's quite a mainstream book that I have never heard of before. The reviews on Goodreads I read were a mixed bag. Most of the people that gave low rating was complaining how "unacademic" the book is.

Well, coming with the information that this is not a really academic read, I set an expectation that this will be just a fun one that will help me think how to scam people ethically. I know scam is a big word, but that's technically what all marketing does nowadays right?

The book has an interesting premise where the author(s) asked some questions that might have not been asked before such as "What do GTA V and Megabonk have in common?". These questions might awaken some crazy game design ideas that I can implement in my next game.

While Freakonomics is my must-finish book in January, I will also be reading this:

Never Die by Rob J. Hayes

I haven't been consuming fiction books lately, might as well read something indie to commemorate my career switch as an indie game developer KEKW.

Never Die is part of The Mortal Technique series. A collection of standalone stories about... idk. Honestly that's the only thing I know about it.

I found this book by googling "Indie Books to Read" and this thing came up a lot. I have zero idea what to expect and no expectation whatsoever so I hope I can enjoy this book better.

Being a standalone book also makes it a plus because I have no more time to read some trilogies or let alone a Malazan Expanded Universe kind of series. I will also be reading this with no time limit, so it'll be very chill (I hope)

And.. I guess that's it for this post. I still have no idea what kind of posts I'll be writing here, so this is a stepping stone harhar.