What are Bill Gates’s book recommendations?
It is an impressive list, consisting largely of nonfiction. Science and technology, medicine, business, economics, education, international development, sociology, history, biography, memoir—name it, and chances are there is at least one book in the genre. If you like nonfiction (ahem, like me), this list is plain dangerous for your TBR pile. This shouldn’t come as a surprise—it is Bill Gates’s book recommendations, after all. 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. This reading list perfectly reflects his life’s work and interests. It consists of thought-provoking books, and chances are that at least one title from it will grab your attention. Of course, it is not perfect. The list is a stark reflection of the lack of diversity in many of the fields showcased here, especially in STEM, but also (although to a lesser degree) in the arts and humanities. Also, if you are not into nonfiction, there are notably fewer choices in this list for you. Despite the above-mentioned problems, I recommend looking through this list of Bill Gates’s book recommendations. Chances are that there might be at least one read that will grab your attention. And remember: if you do not find a title of interest, or would like even more diverse, custom recommendations, our biblioligists at TBR, a tailored book recommendation service, would love to help you find your next perfect literary match. We may not be Bill Gates, but we send new books and recommendations specifically matched for you! Happy reading!
Note: On a few occasions, Gates had certain titles repeat from one list into the next. For the sake of avoiding repetition, I have removed any repeating titles and marked the section where I have done so with a (*).
Summer 2020*
The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger The Great Influenza by John M. Barry Good Economics For Hard Times by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo The Martian by Andy Weir The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Winter 2019
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones These Truths by Jill Lepore Growth by Vaclav Smil Prepared by Diane Tavenner Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
Summer 2019
Upheaval by Jared Diamond Nine Pints by Rose George A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss The Future of Capitalism by Paul Collier
Winter 2018
Educated by Tara Westover Army of None by Paul Scharre Bad Blood by John Carreyrou 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness by Andy Puddicombe
Summer 2018
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Origin Story: A Big History of Everything by David Christian Factfulness by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund
Winter 2017
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil
Summer 2017
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari A Full Life by Jimmy Carter
Winter 2016
String Theory by David Foster Wallace Shoe Dog by Phil Knight The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee The Myth of the Strong Leader by Archie Brown The Grid by Gretchen Bakke
Summer 2016
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson How Not to be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg. The Vital Question by Nick Lane The Power to Compete by Ryoichi Mikitani and Hiroshi Mikitani Sapiens by Noah Yuval Harari
Winter 2015
The Road to Character by David Brooks Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas Sustainable Materials With Both Eyes Open by Julian M. Allwood, Jonathan M. Cullen, et al. Eradication: Ridding the World of Diseases Forever? by Nancy Leys Stepan Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Summer 2015
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins What If? by Randall Munroe XKCD by Randall Munroe On Immunity by Eula Biss How to Lie With Statistics by Darrell Huff Should We Eat Meat? by Vaclav Smil
Winter 2014*
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty How Asia Works by Joe Studwell The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization by Vaclav Smil
Summer 2014
Business Adventures by John Brooks. Stress Test by Timothy F. Geithner The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert Reinventing American Health Care by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Winter 2013
The Box by Marc Levinson The Most Powerful Idea in the World by William Rosen Harvesting the Biosphere by Vaclav Smil The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond Poor Numbers by Morten Jerven Why Does College Cost So Much? by Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman The Bet by Paul Sabin
Summer 2013
The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson However Long the Night: Molly Melching’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls by Aimee Molloy How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough Japan’s Dietary Transition and Its Impacts (Food, Health, and the Environment) by Vaclav Smil and Kazuhiko Kobayashi Made in the USA: The Rise and Retreat of American Manufacturing by Vaclav Smil Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (Issues of Our Time) by Claude Steele Patriot and Assassin by Robert Cook
Winter 2012*
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World? by Gordon Conway A World-Class Education by Vivien Stewart Academically Adrift by Richard Arum & Josipa Roksa This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart & Kenneth Rogoff The City that Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control by Franklin Zimring
Summer 2012
The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker The Quest by Daniel Yergin Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra Vogel The Cost of Hope by Amanda Bennett Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update by Donella Meadows Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman The Man Who Stayed Behind by Amanda Bennett
