Read Like Bill Gates

Bill Gates is a philanthropist, a billionaire and a co-founder of Microsoft. When asked what superpower he would like he answered, "the ability to speed read."

Gates embodies the Read More mentality and annually he releases his must-read books of that year. Just recently, he realized his 2017 book list and it can be found below with links. Let us know which books you enjoy on this list! Please comment below and share your thoughts! 

 

 

 

1.The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir By Thi Bui (2017)

 

Bill's Thoughts on The Best We Could Do  

"I thought she did a great job capturing how daunting it feels to be responsible for your family," 

"At the same time, her family's experience is different from most (and certainly mine). It's clear that a lot of the dysfunction surrounding her childhood is a direct result of what happened in Vietnam."

 

2.Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City By Matthew Desmond (2016)

 

Bill's Thoughts on Evicted

"A searing portrait of American poverty." 

"As stunning as those numbers are, Evicted is primarily about people, not data. Desmond has written a brilliant portrait of Americans living in poverty."

I have no personal experience with the kind of crisis faced by Sharon or the people profiled in Evicted, so I can only learn about it by hearing their stories. This book gave me a better sense of what it is like to be very poor in this country than anything else I have read."

 

3. Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard (2017)

 

Gate's Thoughts on Believe Me

"Eddie Izzard is a comic genius."

You might find you share similarities with Eddie as well. In fact, that’s the overarching point of this book. We’re all cut from the same cloth. In his words, “We are all totally different, but we are all exactly the same.”

 

4.The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Viet Thanh Nguyen (2015)

 

Bill's Thoughts on The Sympathizer 

"A fresh take on the Vietnam War,"

"The Sympathizer offers a much-needed Vietnamese perspective on the war. I’m glad that it’s experienced such mainstream success, and I hope to read more books like it in the future."

 

 

5.Energy and Civilization: A History by Vaclav Smil (2017)

 

Bill's Thoughts Energy and Civilization: A History

"I’ve read nearly all of his 37 books. I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next Star Wars movie. Some years I don’t have to wait long. In 2013 alone, Smil published four!"

The main disagreement I have with Smil is about how quickly we can make the transition to clean energy. He is absolutely right that Moore’s Law and the speedy advances in software have misled people into thinking all innovation and adoption happens that quickly. Yet I am more optimistic than he is about the prospects of speeding up the process when it comes to clean energy."

 

Sources: 

Gates, Bill. “How Energy Makes Life Possible.” Gatesnotes.com, 23 Jan. 2018, www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Energy-and-Civilization.

Gates, Bill. “A Fresh Take on the Vietnam War.” Gatesnotes.com, www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Sympathizer.

Gates, Bill. “Eddie Izzard Is a Comic Genius.” Gatesnotes.com, 25 Jan. 2018, www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Believe-Me.

Gates, Bill. “A Searing Portrait of American Poverty.” Gatesnotes.com, 25 Jan. 2018, www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Evicted.

Gates, Bill. “The Mystery of Mom and Dad.” Gatesnotes.com, 23 Jan. 2018, www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-Best-We-Could-Do.

 

Get Your Read More Gear Today!