What to read this holiday season: Bill Gates has published a list of his favorite books

This holiday season, billionaire Bill Gates has published a list of five books you can read while enjoying a well-deserved break. CNBC.

Photo: IStock

Gates, an avid reader who reads at least 50 books a year, regularly publishes lists of the best books of the year, as well as books for relaxing and reading on the beach in the summer.

Gates, 67, seems to be leaning towards nostalgia this year: Gates' holiday 2022 reading list, published Nov. 21 on his blog, includes a mix of new books and some of his favorite books from the past.

This includes classic 1960s sci-fi that helped build Gates' childhood friendship with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and a book about tennis that Gates first read in the 1970s - which he says helped him eventually As a result, learn not to go in cycles in mistakes at work.

As a special bonus, he said, a copy of every book in his collections was placed in 100 Little Free Libraries all over the world.

Here are five books on Gates' vacation reading list this year:

"Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein

This classic sci-fi book 1961 holds a special place in Gates' memory.

“About that time I met Paul Allen and we met while talking about science fiction,” Gates wrote of his late friend and co-founder of Microsoft. "I thought I read a lot, but Paul outdid me."

Stranger in a Strange Land, Gates's favorite sci-fi book from his youth, is the story of a man who grew up on Mars with the Martians. A young man travels to a futuristic Earth where he struggles to understand human concepts of religion and war.

On the subject: Not books alone: ​​8 non-banal ways to learn English

"I love science fiction that pushes you to think about what's possible in the future," Gates wrote, noting that Heinlein's book correctly predicted some aspects of the future at the time, including "hippie culture" and waterbeds.

"This book asks deep questions about human nature through classic sci-fi stuff and a decidedly fictional setting," Gates added.

"Surrender" Bono

Gates called the autobiographical book, released this month by U2 frontman Bono, "the best rock star memoir I've ever read."

Billionaire and 62-year-old rocker Paul Hewson have been friends for over a decade. They often work together on philanthropic projects, raising awareness and raising funds in areas such as climate change and global health.

Gates praised the book's look at how U2 created "some of their most iconic songs" and what has held Bono and his bandmates together for over four decades.

“They share the same values. All four are passionate about fighting poverty and injustice in the world, and they are also unanimous in maintaining their integrity as artists," Gates wrote.

Rival Team Doris Kearns Goodwin

Gates wrote that he was "appalled" after reading a non-fiction work 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

The Rival Team is a critically acclaimed biography of Abraham Lincoln and the men who served in his first cabinet, some of whom had previously opposed Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election.

The book highlights Lincoln's ability to reconcile the opposing viewpoints of his own advisers, and "there are many insights about Lincoln that leaders can learn from today," Gates wrote.

“I’ve been thinking about Goodwin’s book lately because it seems so relevant in 2022,” he added. “There are significant parallels between the current moment and the 1860s, when the nation was dealing with violent uprisings, difficult questions about race, and ideological divisions between states and regions.”

"Tennis as an Inner Game" by Robert Galwey

Galwey's 1974 work is more than book on how to improve your forehand, it is meant to be "a guide to the mental side of peak performance."

Gates first read the book over four decades ago and has read it several times since, he wrote, adding that he still gives it to friends because "the profound advice it contains applies to many other areas of life."

Galwey, a tennis coach, has written about how a player's state of mind can affect his performance on the court as much as his athletic ability. Gates said these ideas helped his career, especially if he focused on constructive criticism rather than dwelling on mistakes.

“Most of us are too easy to fall into self-criticism, which then further reduces our performance. We need to learn to learn from our mistakes without dwelling on them,” Gates wrote.
In the early days of Microsoft, his high demands on himself and his employees often made him a harsh boss.

In 2019, Gates deplored this approach: "Some of it helped us succeed, but I'm sure some of it was overkill."

The Dream of Mendeleev by Paul Strathearn

If you visit Gates' office in Seattle, you'll see a huge wall display filled with samples of every entry on the periodic table of elements.

The billionaire's interest in the periodic table has continued since a book "Mendeleev's Dream", a 2000 history of chemistry written by academician Paul Strathearn.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

The name refers to the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, who formulated the first version of the periodic table in 1869. “This is the best book on the periodic table I have ever read,” Gates wrote.

“Besides being a beautiful piece of art, the periodic table reminds me of how one discovery can lead to countless others,” he continued. - All the complexity of the Universe comes from the properties in this diagram. Because we understand atoms, we can create chips, which means we can create software, and therefore we can create AI. It all goes back to the periodic table.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

Hundreds of Email Addresses in One Account: An Incredible Gmail Feature You Didn't Know About

The Ukrainian application Headway entered the top 5 most downloaded in the US: it helps to quickly read books

Two babies were born in the US who were frozen as embryos for 30 years

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.