Bill Gates’ summer reads

Bill Gates, co- founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, says he reads around 50 books a year, including bestsellers. And at times, when he really loves a book, he recommends it on his popular blog, Gates Notes.

In his recent ‘ 5 Books Worth Reading This Summer’ post on his blog, he wrote: ‘ When I pulled together this list of five that you might enjoy this summer, I realised that several of my choices wrestle with big questions. What makes a genius tick? Why do bad things happen to good people? Where does humanity come from, and where are we headed?’

He recommends:

1. Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson I think Leonardo was one of the most fascinating people ever… Isaacson does the best job I’ve seen of pulling together the different strands of Leonardo’s life and explaining what made him so exceptional.

2. Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, by Kate Bowler A heartbreaking, surprisingly funny memoir about faith and coming to grips with your own mortality.

3. Lincoln in the Bardo, by George

Saunders

I thought I knew everything I needed to know about Abraham Lincoln, but this novel made me rethink parts of his life.

4. Origin Story: A Big History of Everything, by David Christian

The story of the universe from the big bang to today’s complex societies, weaving together insights and evidence from various disciplines into a single narrative.

5. Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund Hans, the brilliant global- health lecturer who died last year, gives you a breakthrough way of understanding basic truths about the world — how life is getting better, and where the world still needs to improve… It’s a fitting final word from a brilliant man, and one of the best books I’ve ever read.