Bill Gates

Author, Billionaire, Celebrity, Entrepreneur, Executive

William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, software developer, investor, author, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen.

Bill Gates's 216 Book Recommendations

• Principles
• Outliers
• A Separate Peace
• The Catcher in the Rye
• Xkcd
• The World Until Yesterday
• Why We Sleep
• When Breath Becomes Air
• Where Good Ideas Come From
• Capital in the Twenty-First Century
• Why Nations Fail
• Why Does College Cost So Much?
• Upheaval
• Value-added Measures in Education
• Turtles All the Way Down
• The Sympathizer
• The Rosie Project
• The Vital Question
• SuperFreakonomics
• The Rosie Effect
• The Sixth Extinction
• Thing Explainer
• The Most Powerful Idea in the World
• The Road to Character
• The New Science of Strong Materials
• The Power to Compete
• The Moment of Lift
• Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go?
• The Rise and Fall of American Growth
• The Myth of the Strong Leader
• Tomorrow's Table
• The Magic of Reality
• The Idealist
• The Man who Fed the World
• The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness
• The Gene
• The Future of Capitalism
• The Best We Could Do
• The Better Angels of Our Nature
• The Bully Pulpit
• That Used to Be Us
• Tap Dancing to Work
• The Cost of Hope
• Should We Eat Meat?
• Stretching the School Dollar
• Shoe Dog
• Stress Test
• Sustainable Materials: With Both Eyes Open
• Sapiens
• Seveneves
• Stuff Matters
• Origin Story
• Prime Movers of Globalization
• Poor Economics
• Reinventing American Health Care
• Polio
• One Billion Hungry
• Presidents of War
• Poor Numbers
• Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization
• Mindset
• I Contain Multitudes
• Nine Pints
• Jim Grant
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Moonwalking with Einstein
• Lincoln in the Bardo
• Hillbilly Elegy
• Hyperbole and a Half
• Harvesting the Biosphere
• How Asia Works
• How to Lie with Statistics
• Homo Deus
• The Great Escape
• Factfulness
• Eradication
• Evicted
• Epic Measures
• Everything Happens for a Reason
• For the Love of Physics
• Work Hard. Be Nice.
• Enlightenment Now
• Energy and Civilization
• Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
• Why America Is Not a New Rome
• Class Warfare
• Change.edu
• Born a Crime
• Capitalism without Capital
• Bad Blood
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers
• Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
• Energy Myths and Realities
• A World-class Education
• Awakening Joy
• An American Marriage
• A Gentleman in Moscow
• Academically Adrift
• In Fed We Trust
• A Full Life
• 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
• The Overstory
• Under a White Sky
• The Spy and the Traitor
• A Promised Land
• The Splendid and the Vile
• The New Jim Crow
• An Elegant Defense
• Range
• The Checklist Manifesto
• Breath from Salt
• Only the Paranoid Survive
• Becoming Steve Jobs
• The Earth's Biosphere: “In the last few months I have read three books by Vaclav Smil that I highly recommend. ... The Earth’s Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics and Change. I am just reading this one.”
• Enriching the Earth: “Enriching the Earth ... is a must read for anyone who wants to know about fertilizer. It is very well written and explains the science very well.”
• Global Catastrophes and Trends: “Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next 50 Years is also great.”
• Energy at the Crossroads: “Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties is an excellent book that explains the history of energy and the challenges we face.”
• Energy Transitions: “Vaclav Smil has written another important book on energy which is quite amazing. Although there are a lot of important books about energy, as an author Smil is in a class by himself in terms of breadth and depth.”
• What If?: “The reason Munroe’s approach is a great way to learn about science is that he takes ideas that everybody understands in a general way and then explores what happens when you take those ideas to their limits.”
• Growth: “Growth is a brilliant synthesis of everything we can learn from patterns of growth in the natural and human-made world”
• Creating the Twentieth Century: “My favorite Smil book, Creating the Twentieth Century (and its companion, Transforming the Twentieth Century) chronicles the inventions of the last 150 years. It is quite positive because it focuses on innovation and how innovation has advanced society.”
• Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization: “Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization explains a lot about energy uses and what has changed over time.”
• Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air: “David MacKay's brilliant book is a primer on how we make energy and its impact on the climate.”
• Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update: “Other books I read recently that I'd recommend include:... Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update by Donella Meadows”
• Abundance: “In Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson explain the bottlenecks that slow progress and what it'll take to overcome them.”
• A Nation of Wusses: “One of the shorter, fun books I read this summer is A Nation of Wusses... No surprise, then, that this book is colorful too, with lots of great stories.”
• The Art of Being Unreasonable: “I enjoyed his succinct memoir, The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking.”
• This Time Is Different: “Every one of these books changed my worldview, and I highly recommend them if you're looking for inspiring reading.”
• The City That Became Safe: “Every one of these books changed my worldview, and I highly recommend them if you're looking for inspiring reading.”
• The Quest: “At 816 pages, it's a commitment, but one that you'll find worthwhile thanks to Yergin's expertise as an energy expert and writer.”
• Whistling Vivaldi: “I've actually read this one already, but I'm including it here as a recommendation. I learned a lot about different forms of discrimination that affect people's performance but are very hard to detect.”
• The Box: “It is the subject of an excellent book I read this summer called The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by a former Economist editor named Marc Levinson.”
• The Bet: “I recommend The Bet to anyone wanting to understand the history of the debate between environmental pessimists and optimists.”
• Guns, Germs, and Steel: “Diamond's best-known book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, had a profound effect on the way I think about history and why certain societies advance faster than others.”
• Business Adventures: “Business Adventures is old, hard to find, and the best business book ever.”
• The Fever: “If you read just one book about malaria, The Fever may be the best choice.”
• House on Fire: “In House on Fire, Bill Foege tells the amazing story of smallpox eradication.”
• Smallpox: The Death of a Disease: “Here are four good ones that I've read over the years... D.A. Henderson is another hero of the global-health world who worked closely with Bill Foege on eradicating smallpox.”
• Infections and Inequalities: “Paul Farmer is one of the most impressive people I've had the honor of getting to know... In this book he really opens your eyes to the vast differences between the health of the rich and the health of the poor.”
• On Immunity: “When I stumbled across this book on the Internet, I thought it might be a worthwhile read. I had no idea what a pleasure reading it would be.”
• Being Nixon: “It's a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in this brilliant, conflicted, and complicated man.”
• How Not to Be Wrong: “A fascinating look at how we all do math.”
• String Theory: “I loved this book on tennis as much for the writing as its insights into my favorite sport.”
• The Grid: “I think this book would convince you that the electrical grid is one of the greatest engineering wonders of the modern world.”
• The Heart: “It's not the plot that makes The Heart such a wonderful book.”
• Believe Me: “And his memoir is terrific—as long as you've seen his act.”
• Educated: “Educated is an amazing story, and I get why it's spent so much time on the bestseller list.”
• Prepared: “Diane Tavenner's book offers amazing tips on preparing kids for college, a career, and life.”
• The Choice: “Melinda recommended that I read it, and I'm glad she did. Eger's life story gives her fascinating insight into how people move on after trauma.”
• Cloud Atlas: “Cloud Atlas is a wonderful book that is hard to describe.”
• The Ride of a Lifetime: “But I recently read another business book that I will happily recommend to anyone who asks: The Ride of a Lifetime, by former Disney CEO Robert Iger.”
• The Great Influenza: “Barry's 2004 book The Great Influenza has never been more relevant.”
• Good Economics for Hard Times: “Banerjee and Duflo make a powerful case that it's just about impossible to make specific predictions in this area.”
• The Martian: “The Martian, by Andy Weir. (Listed among other books worth reading in Bill Gates's Summer Books 2020 list.)”
• Lights Out: “Anyone who wants to avoid the mistakes made by GE should read this book.”
• A Thousand Brains: “It's filled with fascinating insights into the architecture of the brain and tantalizing clues about the future of intelligent machines.”
• The Code Breaker: “When I heard that one of my favorite authors, Walter Isaacson, was working on a book about CRISPR and its inventor, I was eager to read it.”
• Klara and the Sun: “His latest is just as thoughtful and beautifully written as you'd expect from him.”
• Hamnet: “Maggie O'Farrell's novel Hamnet is the latest, and I thought it was a beautiful, well-written look at how grief tears a family apart.”
• Project Hail Mary: “I recently finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir and couldn't wait to recommend it.”
• The Power: “Overall, the massive role reversal that takes place in this book is a compelling reminder of what life is like for women all over the world and the injustices and indignities that they face.”
• Why We're Polarized: “Why We're Polarized is a fascinating look at human psychology.”
• The Lincoln Highway: “I loved the latest from the author of A Gentleman in Moscow.”
• The Ministry for the Future: “The Ministry for the Future is a great read.”
• How the World Really Works: “What I love about How the World Really Works is that it sums up all of the incredible knowledge Vaclav has gained over the years.”
• Stranger in a Strange Land: “Let's try and make it do something.” Of all the sci-fi I read as a teenager, Stranger in a Strange Land is my favorite.”
• Surrender: “I loved Surrender.”
• Team of Rivals: “Of all the books I've read about the 16 th president of the U.S., Team of Rivals is the best.”
• The Inner Game of Tennis: “It's the best book on tennis that I have ever read, and its profound advice applies to many other parts of life.”
• Mendeleyev's Dream: “Paul Strathern's terrific book Mendeleyev's Dream traces that journey all the way back to ancient Greece, when people first started questioning why the world is the way it is.”
• Weather For Dummies: “It's actually one of the first books I recommend to anyone who wants to understand the weather and how it's affected by climate change.”
• The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology: “Although there were many good ones, here are three in addition to Weather for Dummies that I especially recommend: The Atmosphere, by Frederick K. Lutgens and Edward Tarbuck.”
• Physical Geology: Exploring the Earth: “Here are three in addition to Weather for Dummies that I especially recommend... Physical Geology, by James S. Monroe, Reed Wicander, and Richard Hazlett. Like The Atmosphere, Physical Geology is a college textbook that can also stand on its own.”
• Planet Earth: “Here are three in addition to Weather for Dummies that I especially recommend... Planet Earth, by John Renton. I appreciate this book for two reasons: because it's fascinating on its own, and because it introduced me to John Renton as a teacher.”
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: “I never thought I'd relate to a book about gaming, but I loved Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.”
• Born in Blackness: “If you're interested in learning more about the history of Africa, its central role in the world, and the ways in which both have been misunderstood in the West, I highly recommend Born in Blackness.”
• The Song of the Cell: “The Song of the Cell proves that Siddhartha Mukherjee is one of the best science writers working today.”
• Not the End of the World: “My recommendation? This book.”
• Invention and Innovation: “If you want to know how human ingenuity brought us to this moment in time, I highly recommend Invention and Innovation.”
• The Women: “This terrific novel tells the story of Frankie McGrath, an army nurse who serves two tours on the frontlines in Vietnam.”
• Infectious Generosity: “Infectious Generosity is a timely, inspiring read about philanthropy in the digital age.”
• Brave New Words: “I recently read a terrific book on this topic called Brave New Words.”
• How to Know a Person: “Overall, I can't recommend How to Know a Person highly enough.”
• An Unfinished Love Story: “I loved—and finished—Doris Kearns Goodwin's An Unfinished Love Story.”
• The Anxious Generation: “The Anxious Generation explains how smartphones and social media rewired a generation.”
• Engineering in Plain Sight: “This would have been a perfect holiday gift for my younger self, and I think it would be great for anyone who is similarly curious about the things that make modern life possible.”
• The Coming Wave: “For the past year, I've responded by telling them to read The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman.”
• Federer: “But if you—or someone you love—is a fan of Roger's, Federer is a wonderful retrospective of his life and career.”
• Personal History: “If you want to learn even more about her incredible life, I recommend starting with the new documentary Becoming Katharine Graham before reading Personal History.”
• Chasing Hope: “I loved this journalist's story of chasing hard problems and holding onto hope.”
• Remarkably Bright Creatures: “Fortunately, I recently read Remarkably Bright Creatures, a terrific novel that helped me make a bit more sense out of aging.”
• Clearing the Air: “If you want a book that explains the climate challenge without doom or denial, Clearing the Air is a must-read.”
• Who Knew: “His new memoir Who Knew still managed to surprise and teach me a lot about him, his career, and the many industries he's transformed.”
• When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows...: “Luckily, Steven Pinker explains the topic brilliantly in his latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows.”
• Culpability: “Best Fiction: Culpability, by Bruce Holsinger.”
• Blueprint: “Blueprint by Nicholas Christakis is a fascinating look at human behavior.”
• 1929: “I thought Too Big to Fail was terrific, and Sorkin's newest book is just as thoroughly researched as his last one.”
• Gray Matters: “Gray Matters is one of the best I've listened to recently. Schwartz does a fantastic job of explaining the maladies of the brain and what it's like to be a neurosurgeon.”
• Hit Refresh: “This book is a thoughtful guide to an exciting, challenging future.”
• How to Feed the World: “In his latest book, one of my favorite authors argues that solving hunger requires more than producing more food.”
• Interventions: “An illuminating look at the role of Secretary-General of the United Nations.”
• Life Is What You Make It: “Peter Buffett recently published a terrific book, titled Life is What You Make It.”
• Measure What Matters: “I'd recommend John's book for anyone interested in becoming a better manager.”
• Numbers Don't Lie: “Numbers Don't Lie: 71 Things You Need to Know About the World, which came out last fall, takes everything that makes his writing great and boils it down into an easy-to-read format.”
• Getting Better: “After years of doom and gloom on the subject of foreign aid, it is refreshing to find so thoughtful and contrarian an approach to the topic.”
• The Bottom Billion: “His book The Bottom Billion is still on the short list of books that I recommend to people, even though a lot has changed since it was published 12 years ago.”
• Too Big to Fail: “I thought Too Big to Fail was terrific, and Sorkin's newest book is just as thoroughly researched as his last one.”
• The Emperor of All Maladies: “I loved Mukherjee's 2015 TED Talk and his brilliant book about cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies.”
• Liberating Learning: “Liberating Learning by Terry Moe and John Chubb is an important book that focuses on how technology will change K-12 education in the United States.”
• Everything Is Tuberculosis: “Everything Is Tuberculosis is poignant, smart, and at times infuriating.”
• The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress: “Probably the one I read the most was Robert Heinlein— The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress was a particular favorite.”
• Just Mercy: “If you aren't familiar with him, I recommend watching the movie or reading the book Just Mercy.”
• These Truths
• Abundance: “Other books I read recently that I'd recommend include: ... Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter Diamandis”
• Einstein: His Life and Universe: “A worthy follow-up to Isaacson's great biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.”
• Steve Jobs: “A worthy follow-up to Isaacson's great biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.”

Books written by Bill Gates

• How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
• The Road Ahead
• Business @ the Speed of Thought
• How to Prevent the Next Pandemic
• Source Code: My Beginnings