“This year, sometimes I chose to go deeper on a difficult subject, like the injustices that underlie this year’s Black Lives Matter protests. By Minda Zetlin, Co-author, The Geek Gap @MindaZetlin. All Rights Reserved. You can find videos of some of those conversations on Gates Notes. In some cases, he provides a personal review. If you could have a conversation with any author in the world, dead or living, who would it be? 5. Whether you’re looking for a distraction or just spending a lot more time at home, you can’t beat reading a book. I always take a big canvas tote-bag of books when I go on vacation. Where do you read? It’s probably my favorite book and the one I recommend most often. “This book is truly uplifting. Self-made billionaire Bill Gates says that textbooks, which have long been a staple in traditional classrooms, offer "a pretty limited way to learn something." “I think his ideas even help explain some of Microsoft’s success, because we hired people who had real breadth within their field and across domains. “This story is especially meaningful to me because I know families who’ve benefited from the new medicines described in this book. The biggest problem I have is that I refuse to stop reading a book in the middle, even if I don’t like it. THE LESSON ON BILL GATES. Log out . The essay titled “Xerox Xerox Xerox Xerox” should win an award for most clever chapter name, and the lessons inside the book are even better. “Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.” — Bill Gates The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, by Erik Larson. Include an imaginary interview with him. Comments section policy: Any attacks on BusinessTech, its journalists, or other readers will result in a ban. And the more I dislike a book, the more time I take to write margin notes. Through various foundations he funds poverty reduction efforts, and research into healthcare and clean energy. This reading list perfectly reflects his life’s work and interests. In a new interview with TIME, Bill Gates discusses his new list of recommended summer reading, his voracious appetite for the written word and the books that have influenced his life and mind. As a result, I read a wide range of books, and a lot of excellent ones.”. Here are his 20 most recent recommendations, and why you should add them to your reading list. “Sometimes history books end up feeling more relevant than their authors could have imagined. I was lucky to have parents who encouraged me to read. “The fear and anxiety they felt—while much more severe than what we’re experiencing with COVID-19—sounded familiar. Entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and book-lovers alike will enjoy his picks. Bill Gates recommends books on his blog. Bill Gates released his annual holiday book list on Tuesday, with recommendations of books he read throughout the year. My elementary school librarian, Mrs. Blanche Caffiere at Seattle’s View Ridge Elementary School, introduced me to biographies of famous figures throughout history. ', 'If you can't make it good, at least make it look good. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. Now that I’ve read Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep, I realize that my all-nighters, combined with almost never getting eight hours of sleep, took a big toll. Bill Gates’ recommended reading list The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist has been recommending books for years on his blog, Gates Notes. In a year like this, sometimes you want to go deep on a tough issue. “In tough times — and there’s no doubt that 2020 qualifies as tough times — those of us who love to read turn to all kinds of different books,” Gates wrote, adding that while he spent some of his 2020 reading time actively delving into “difficult subject[s],” he also found time to escape into reads that offered “a change of pace, something lighter at the end of the day.” Gates wrote that there were times when he wanted to dwelve deeper into social issues like Black Lives Matter protests. 1: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by. Fox News personalities came after Bill Gates on Tuesday for comments he made during a pandemic-focused interview with CNN's Jake Tapper over the weekend. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. His two memoirs, Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! Have you ever pretended to read a book that you haven’t read? Bill Gates: Your Summer Reading List Should Include These 5 Books, Bill Gates Discusses His Lifelong Love for Books and Reading. 3. One person I’m sorry I never got to meet is the physicist Richard Feynman. An avid learn-it-all, Bill Gates is well known for his voracious reading. “I started following Epstein’s work after watching his fantastic 2014 TED talk on sports performance. Other times you need a break. Bill Gates recommends these five books: “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, “Range” by David Epstein, “The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson, “The Spy and the Traitor” by Ben Macintyre, and “Breath from Salt” by Bijal P. Trivedi. He is one of the founders of Microsoft (read: a dedicated nerd and a savvy businessman), one of the wealthiest people on the planet, and, together with his wife, a known philanthropist. Click through via the link above, and click on the specific book. I’m lucky that I get to have conversations with a lot of authors whose work I love. I don’t think I’ve ever done that. 5 good books for a lousy year . Did you all find out similar things? Bill Gates is a voracious reader. Jared Diamond. Warren Buffett loaned me his copy of Business Adventures by John Brooks many years ago. The five books on my end-of-year list will help you start 2020 on a good note. Instead, his rule indicates to decide what you read before you start. Might as well read some good books. Please try again later. This is my personal blog, where I share about the people I meet, the books I'm reading, and what I'm learning. By signing up you are agreeing to our, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Are TIME's 2020 Person of the Year. I took inspiration from it while running Microsoft. 'Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates' on Netflix looks at the early life and modern-day philanthropy of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. I hope that you'll join the conversation. and What Do You Care What Other People Think?, are wonderful for anyone who loves science or entertaining stories about playing bongos and cracking safes. 4. Bill Gates Announces Summer 2020 Reading List You're staying home. Samuel P. Jacobs is digital director and executive editor at TIME. Breath from Salt: A Deadly Genetic Disease, a New Era in Science, and the Patients and Families Who Changed Medicine, by Bijal P. Trivedi. The idea at the center of his book—that the world is getting better in lots of ways—is part of the motivation for the work Melinda and I do with our foundation. The five-book list tackles a variety of subjects, from racial justice to Cold War espionage. Bill Gates, who reads an average of about one book per week, says reading is his favorite way to learn about a new topic, according to one of his blog posts. I read a book a week for more than two years now and continue to look for ways to improve my reading. Who is your most trusted book recommender? Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and Jack Ma are all voracious readers. Melinda and I both love the book, and it’s the novel that I reread the most. The detailed world that he created just blew me away. Cory Stieg @corystieg. “Other times I needed a change of pace, something lighter at the end of the day. What book do you most often recommend? “Like many white people, I’ve tried to deepen my understanding of systemic racism in recent months,” said Gates. It’s been a year of cancellations, but Bill Gates is keeping one tradition alive. The Rosie Project is a great example of that. MORE: Bill Gates: Your Summer Reading List Should Include These 5 Books. December 8, 2020 11:00 AM EST T his year, Bill Gates’ recommended reading list covers a wide range of subjects. He argues that violence in human society is decreasing at a rapid rate, and our tolerance of violence is decreasing even faster. To mark the upcoming release of his new book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster, here are some of the best. 4. You can unsubscribe at any time. It’s still the best business book I’ve ever read. It’s a collection of Brooks’s New Yorker essays about why various companies succeeded or failed. Every year, Bill Gates releases his summer and winter reading lists of the best books. This line is one of our favorites: “His dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. “I finished the book more convinced than ever that we need a more just approach to sentencing and more investment in communities of colour.”, Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein. Bill Gates at … Consider whether a book is worth your time before you open it. Back to Pinker’s Better Angels. A lot of the reading I do is so I can keep learning about the world. In a blog post detailing the books, Gates said that he turned to books from a variety of different genres to help get him through a difficult year. My kids are old enough now that their taste in books sometimes crosses over with mine. I have another novel on my summer books list this year, The Heart by a French author, Maylis de Kerangal. It changed the way I think about the world. An avid learn-it-all, Bill Gates is well known for his voracious reading. Bill Gates shares his summer book recommendations: Origin Story: A Big History of Everything, by David Christian, Factfulness, by Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund, Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson, Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders, and Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, by Kate Bowler. It documents a story of remarkable scientific innovation and how it has improved the lives of almost all cystic fibrosis patients and their families. “It’s especially good at explaining the history and the numbers behind mass incarceration. 8. Gates posted his 2020 recommended holiday reading list on his GatesNote blog on Tuesday. ', and 'Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.' If you’re a generalist who has ever felt overshadowed by your specialist colleagues, this book is for you. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which like a lot of people I first read as a teenager, is special to me in a different way. It’s every bit as exciting as my favourite spy novels,” said Gates. I have a bad habit of staying up really late if I’m in the middle of a book that I love. I reviewed it for my blog, Gates Notes, because I wanted other people to read it, love it, and hopefully learn from it the way I did. Bill Gates loves reading. “Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.” — Bill Gates. On a plane? Why do you incorporate fiction into your mostly nonfiction diet? I read the whole set of World Book encyclopedias when I was a kid. 1. 6. https://en.islcollective.com/video-lessons/bill-gates-on-reading-books Write to Samuel P. Jacobs at sam.jacobs@time.com. Bill Gates provides a bookshelf at his official site. In a new interview with TIME, Bill Gates discusses his new list of recommended summer … “I suspect we’ll see many more books like this in the coming years, as biomedical miracles emerge from labs at an ever-greater pace.”, Read: Why your December braai will be more expensive. By Minda Zetlin, Co-author, The Geek Gap @MindaZetlin. “Macintyre’s retelling of their stories comes not only from Western sources (including Gordievsky himself) but also from the Russian perspective. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know now on politics, health and more, © 2020 TIME USA, LLC. Log in. I read Stephen Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature a few years ago and got to talk to him about it after, which was a lot of fun. What’s your favorite book from childhood? Might as well read some good books. An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. May 22, 2017 1:00 PM EDT Samuel P. Jacobs is digital director and executive editor at TIME. It’s hard to pick a favorite, since books (especially nonfiction) were a big part of my childhood. Sign up. Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has published a list of five of his favourite books on his reading list in 2020. That means I sometimes spend more time reading a book that I can’t stand than a book that I love. Reading fuels a sense of curiosity about the world, which I think helped drive me forward in my career and in the work that I do now with my foundation. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander. “Larson gives you a vivid sense of what life was like for average citizens during this awful period, and he does a great job profiling some of the British leaders who saw them through the crisis, including Winston Churchill and his close advisers. Join the Gates Notes community to get regular updates from Bill on key topics like global health and climate change, to access exclusive content, comment on stories, participate in giveaways, and more. 7. When Bill Gates ran Microsoft, he took a week, two times a year to go to a secret cabin in the woods and read proposals for innovation from all members of … Bill Gates: We need a team of 3,000 infectious disease experts to fight the next pandemic. And how? You don’t really start getting old until you stop learning. But I love the way good fiction can take you out of your own thoughts and into someone else’s. He shares his anticipated annual selections on Gates Notes, where he …