Reading List
Bill Gates
Co-Founder, Microsoft; Co-Chair, Gates Foundation · Microsoft
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and helped bring a computer to every desk and home before turning to full-time philanthropy through the Gates Foundation. A voracious reader, he publishes detailed book reviews and seasonal reading lists on his blog, Gates Notes, that regularly send titles up the bestseller charts. His recommendations lean toward big-idea nonfiction on science, history, health, and human progress, and few readers in the world carry more weight when they say a book is worth your time.
Engineering in Plain Sight
by Grady Hillhouse
“I wish I'd had Grady Hillhouse's book Engineering in Plain Sight back then. It takes all those mysterious structures you see every day and explains them in a way that's both entertaining and enlightening.” — via Website
Brave New Words
by Salman Khan
“I recently read a terrific book on this topic called Brave New Words. It's written by my friend (and podcast guest) Sal Khan, a longtime pioneer of innovation in education.” — via Website
The Women
by Kristin Hannah
“This terrific novel tells the story of Frankie McGrath, an army nurse who serves two tours on the frontlines in Vietnam before returning home to a country rocked by protest and anti-war sentiment.” — via Website
The Anxious Generation
How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
by Jonathan Haidt · 2024 · Nonfiction
“Reading Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation has made me wonder: Would I have developed this habit if I had grown up with today's technology? If every time I was alone in my room as a kid, there was a distracting app I could scroll through?” — via Website
The Coming Wave
by Mustafa Suleyman
“It's the book I recommend more than any other on AI—to heads of state, business leaders, and anyone else who asks—because it offers something rare: a clear-eyed view of both the extraordinary opportunities and genuine risks ahead.” — via Website
Mindset
The New Psychology of Success
by Carol S. Dweck · 2007 · Nonfiction
“But I also like to revisit older books that feel especially important or relevant. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006), by the Stanford psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck, is one of those books.” — via Book Review, December 2015
Range
Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
by David Epstein · 2021 · Nonfiction
“I learned this from reading a good, myth-debunking book called Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. The sports journalist David Epstein uses Roger's experience as his opening example of the underappreciated benefits of delaying specialization and accumulating a breadth of different experiences.” — via Book Review, December 2020
Business Adventures
by John Brooks · 1969 · Business
“Today, more than two decades after Warren lent it to me—and more than four decades after it was first published—Business Adventures remains the best business book I've ever read. John Brooks is still my favorite business writer.” — via Book Review, July 2014
Why We Sleep
Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
by Matthew Walker · 2018 · Nonfiction
“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.” — via Book Review, December 2019
Enlightenment Now
The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
by Steven Pinker · 2019 · History
“I'm going to stop talking up Better Angels so much, because Pinker has managed to top himself. His new book, Enlightenment Now, is even better.” — via Book Review, January 2018
Factfulness
Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World, and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
by Hans Rosling · 2018 · Nonfiction
“I recently read Hans' new book Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think. In it, he offers a new framework for how to think about the world.” — via Book Review, April 2018
Educated
A Memoir
by Tara Westover · 2018 · Memoir
“I thought I was pretty good at teaching myself—until I read Tara Westover's memoir Educated. Her ability to learn on her own blows mine right out of the water.” — via Book Review, December 2018