Best of 2025: The Books, Films, and Moments That Shaped My Year

Every year, I look back not just at the metrics and milestones, but at the cultural touchstones that colored my days — the books that shifted my thinking, the films that stayed with me, the podcasts that became companions on long walks, and the experiences that reminded me why all the hard work matters.

Here's what made the cut this year:

🎥 Favorite Movie: About Dry Grasses

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's latest masterpiece. Slow, deliberate, and devastatingly human. It's a film about isolation, accusation, and the complicated messiness of trying to do good in a world that resists simplicity.

I watched it twice.

If you're used to films that wrap things up neatly, this isn't for you. But if you want something that lingers — that makes you sit with discomfort and ambiguity — it's extraordinary.

📺 Favorite Shows

Disclaimer — Gripping, layered, and beautifully uncomfortable. A story about secrets, perspective, and how easily truth gets distorted. I binged it in two nights.

The Four Seasons — Warm, bittersweet, and deeply relatable. A meditation on friendship, aging, and the passage of time. The kind of show that makes you want to call your oldest friends.

The White Lotus Third Season — Sharp, darkly funny, and uncomfortably accurate about privilege, power, and the absurdity of wealth. Season after season, Mike White nails the human condition in all its messy contradictions.

🎭 Best Performance I Saw: Matilda in London

My daughter and I went on a 'girls trip' to London earlier this year and one of the many highlights was Matilda the Musical in London's West End. The performance, the energy, the ambiance, the staging, the way the story celebrates curiosity, courage, and standing up against injustice...

Watching my daughter completely absorbed in the performance, singing along, mumbling the lines (she has read the book several times) and laughing out loud was heart-warming.

📚 Favorite Books

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Şafak — Şafak weaves history, mythology, and human connection in a way that feels both epic and intimate. A story about water, memory, and the threads that connect us across time and geography. I couldn't put it down.

Masumiyet Müzesi (The Museum of Innocence) by Orhan Pamuk — I finally read this in Turkish this year, and it hit differently. Pamuk's love letter to Istanbul, obsession, and longing. Melancholic, beautiful, and deeply Turkish in its emotional texture.

Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner — A practical, research-backed exploration of awe and its role in well-being. It reminded me to seek out moments of wonder — not as luxury, but as necessity.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr — A WWII novel that's as much about human resilience as it is about survival. Beautifully written, heartbreaking, and hopeful all at once.

🎙️ Favorite Podcasts

The Economist: Money Talks — Sharp, well-researched, and essential listening for anyone trying to make sense of the global economy, digital currencies, and what's actually happening behind the headlines.

20VC (20 Minute VC) — Harry Stebbings continues to deliver some of the smartest, most actionable conversations with founders, investors, and operators. Fast-paced, no fluff, always insightful.

🧩 Best Training / New Learning: Getting Certified in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®

This was one of the highlights of my year. I've always believed that the best learning happens through play, experimentation, and hands-on engagement — not through PowerPoint slides and lectures.

Getting certified in LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® gave me a powerful new tool to facilitate deeper thinking, unlock creative problem-solving, and help teams surface insights they didn't know they had.

There's something profound about building with your hands while your brain works through complex challenges. It bypasses the usual corporate filters and gets to the real stuff faster.

I've already integrated it into my coaching and facilitation work, and the results have been remarkable. Teams open up differently. Leaders think more creatively. Conversations go deeper.

If you've never experienced a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® session, you're missing out. And if you're a facilitator or coach, I can't recommend the training enough.

🌍 Favorite Travel Moments

Weekend getaway in London with my husband and kids — Chaos, laughter, museums, Harry Potter, Peppa Pig, London Bridge, Street Art, Big Ben.... Watching my son, on his very first visit, recognize landmarks he'd memorized from books and endless Peppa Pig episodes was equal parts funny and moving.

There's something grounding about seeing a city you know well through fresh eyes — especially theirs.

Amsterdam, Lisbon, Bordeaux, Istanbul, Nashville, Denton, Kayseri — each place left a different imprint. Amsterdam offered the ease of being among my tribe. Lisbon sparked creativity. Bordeaux invited indulgence. Turkey grounded me in home. The U.S. anchored connection — across work, family, and friendships.

Each stop recalibrated something I didn't know needed adjusting.

🍽️ Favorite New Restaurant: Zéphirine, Bordeaux

Intimate, elegant, and unforgettable. The kind of meal where every course tells a story and you leave feeling like you've experienced something special, not just eaten well.

If you're in Bordeaux, don't leave without a meal at Zéphirine.

✨ Best Practices That Kept Me Grounded

Teaching yoga at Hot Yoga Dublin and Yoga Next Door — Community, embodiment, and perspective. Teaching reminds me to practice what I preach about presence, breath, and letting go of control.

Swimming — Daily in summer, weekly in winter. Swimming resets my thinking like nothing else.

Time with my kids and loved ones — Always the anchor. The late-night conversations, the weekend routines, the ordinary moments that end up being the ones I remember most.

As I close out 2025, I'm thinking deeply about what I savored.

The books that made me think differently. The conversations that stretched me. The moments with my kids that I didn't rush through. The practices that kept me grounded when everything else felt chaotic.

Here's to more of that in 2026.

What made your 2025 list? I'd love to hear what you're carrying forward into the new year.

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Hi, I'm Merve. I work with senior leaders, founders, and leadership teams who want clarity, alignment, and momentum — especially in complex, hybrid, or fast-growing environments.

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