Microsoft founder Bill Gates has shared his five recommended books to read this 2021. In addition to this, he also mentioned five tips to retain all the information from the books he has read.
Bill Gates Book List 2021
According to EAB, Bill Gates reads around 50 books every year, or nearly one book per week. he also takes efforts to ensure that he retains all of the information.
For this reason, Gates recommended several books to read yearly and even during seasonal events.
In the recent blog post of the philanthropist, he stated the five books he loved reading this year. Moreover, he noticed that he has been drawn to the types of literature he enjoyed as a child.
"As I got older, I started reading a lot more non-fiction. I was still interested in books that explored the implications of innovation, but it felt more important to learn something about our real-world along the way. Lately, though, I've found myself drawn back to the kinds of books I would've loved as a kid.," Gates wrote on his blog post.
5. A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence, by Jeff Hawkins
Artificial intelligence is one of the few themes that has caught the minds of science fiction authors. For those who are curious to know what it could take to build a true AI, this book provides an intriguing hypothesis.
Hawkins is best known for co-inventing the PalmPilot, but he has spent decades thinking about the connections between neuroscience and machine learning, and this book is the greatest introduction to his ideas.
For those interested to buy A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence, it is available to purchase on Amazon for only $20.43.
4. The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, by Walter Isaacson
The CRISPR gene-editing technique is one of the most fascinating and potentially important scientific developments in the past decade. Bill Gates noted that he is familiar with it because of his job at the foundation, but Gates still learned a lot from Nobel Prize-winning biologist Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues in this detailed and approachable book. Isaacson does an excellent job of emphasizing the most crucial ethical issues surrounding gene editing.
For those who want to purchase the book, it is available on Amazon for only $21.49.
3. Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
Gates stated that he enjoys a good robot narrative, and Kazuo Ishiguro's novel about a sick little girl's artificial buddy does not disappoint. Despite the fact that the movie is set in a dystopian future, the robots are not a force for evil, in which they function as companions to keep people company.
This novel made Gates think about what life would be like with extremely intelligent robots, and if people would see them as tools or even more.
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro is available on Amazon for only $15.79.
2. Hamnet, by Maggie O'Farrell
For those who enjoy reading Shakespeare books, they would like this poignant tale about how his personal life may have affected one of his most renowned plays.
O'Farrell's narrative is based on two facts about Shakespeare that we know is true: his son Hamnet died when he was 11 years old, and Shakespeare created the tragedy Hamlet a few years afterward.
Gates added that he loved reading about Shakespeare's wife, Anne, who is portrayed as a near-supernatural presence in the book.
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell is available on Amazon for $14.49.
1. Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
According to Bill Gates, he first encountered Weir's work through The Martian.
His most recent book is a fantastical story about a high school science teacher who wakes up in a foreign star system with no memory of how he got there. The rest of the narrative is around how he saves the day by combining science and engineering.
Gates noted that it is an enjoyable book and that he finished reading it in one weekend.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is available on Amazon with a starting price of $10.21.
Bill Gates' 5 Rules for Reading Books
As mentioned, the billionaire reads 50 books per year. In addition to this, he gave his five tips to retain all the information he reads, per EAB.
- Read at least one hour at a time.
- Make yourself comfortable with the book you are reading.
- Never leave the book half-finished.
- Take notes to reflect on the material.
- Get context through reading enough about a subject.
Related Article: Bill Gates' Book on Climate Change: How to Download for FREE
