For the business tycoon and software developer, Bill GatesDecember holidays are the ideal time for annual traditions. And just like many people love spending time with family to celebrate the holidays, take this opportunity to do so reflect on current events.
Recently he tried to break his year-end routine a bit and instead of limiting himself to the things he read previously during these twelve months, he chose aselection of books to recommend, regardless of when you finished them. These are:
Best Intro to Adult Science Fiction: Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
“Paul Allen and I fell in love with Heinlein as children, and this book remains one of my all-time favorite science fiction novels,” writes Gates. “Tell the story of a young man who returns to Earth after growing up on Mars and start a new religion. I think the best science fiction makes you think about what’s possible in the future, and Heinlein was able to predict the rise of hippie culture years before it even emerged.”
Best Rock Star Memoir: Surrender, by Bono
This book came out this month, so it’s the most recent Gates has read on this list: If You Are fan u2, chances are you’re already planning to give it a try. Even if you’re not, it’s a super fun read as a kid from the Dublin suburbs he grew up to be a rock star and world-renowned philanthropist. I’m lucky to call Bono a friend, but a lot of the stories he tells in Surrender were new to me.”
The Ultimate Guide to Leading a Country: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
I can’t read enough Abraham Lincoln”, says Gates, who adds that this is one of the best books on the subject. “It seems especially relevant now that our country is once again faced with violent insurrectiontough questions about race, and deep ideological divisions,” he says. “Goodwin is one of America’s greatest biographers, and Team of Rivals is undoubtedly his masterpiece.”
The Ultimate Guide to Getting Out of Your Own Way: The Inner Game of Tennis by Robert Gallwey
This 1974 book is a must-read for anyone who plays tennis, says Gates, who likewise says that “even people who have never played it will get something out of it. Gallwey argues that your mental state is just as important, if not more important, than your physical state. He gives excellent advice on how to constructively overcome mistakes, which I have tried to follow on and off the pitch over the years.”
Best Book on the Periodic Table: Mendeleyev’s Dream by Paul Strathern
The history of chemistry is littered with outlandish characters such as Dimitri Mendeleyev, the Russian scientist who first proposed the periodic table after it allegedly occurred to him in a dream: “Strathern’s book traces that story back to its origins in ancient Greece. It’s a fascinating look at how science develops and how human curiosity has evolved over the millennia.”
