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Best Favorite Books Recommended by Bill Gates that Found Helpful and Inspiring This Year.
In this article, we will share the 15 Best Bill Gates Favorite Books of all Time that You Must Read in 2023.
Microsoft is the world's software giant. Company boss Bill Gates has been fond of reading since he was a child. A 1960 edition of the "World Book Encyclopedia", read from the age of 8 until he was in middle school.
In fact, Bill Gates first read comic books and fairy tale books. Later, he became very interested in some stories about Tarzan and the Martian. These different types of books have greatly broadened Bill Gates' vision and made him full of curiosity about the strange world outside.
Later, Gates likes to read biographical works, especially biographies about great scientists, companies, and politicians. He once said that reading books in this area can help him understand how these great men think.
He claimed that he had read more books about Napoleon than anyone in the world, and he read all the books about Leonardo, Franklin, and Roosevelt as much as possible.
In addition, Gates prefers to read books on how other companies are on the road to success. At the same time, he has also read literary works, scientific works, and business books.
Bill Gates has a wide range of academics, and these books will undoubtedly greatly promote the formation of his future worldview and knowledge structure.
To lay a solid foundation for him to become a giant of the world's Microsoft Corporation in the future. He has achieved great success in his career, made outstanding contributions to mankind, and won the admiration of people.
15 Best Bill Gates Favorite Books of all Time to Read in 2023
It may not be an exaggeration to describe Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, for every possible reason. However, no matter how busy he is, Gates will still finish reading a book every week.
The vast majority of Gates' book lists are non-fiction works, usually related to his foundation. Many of these books are about institutional changes:
For example,
- How to develop a country more reasonably;
- How to lead an organization;
- How to make changes more beneficial to society.
The US financial website BusinessInsider combed through Gates' evaluation of the books he read in the past four years. Find out 15 of Bill Gates's favorite books of all time.
Although it is impossible for everyone to be the richest man. But everyone can get inspiration from these Bill Gates-recommended books in 2023.
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1. Tap Dance to Work: What Buffett Says
Buffett and Gates have a deep friendship, and it is not surprising that Gates recommends this book. This book is a collection of articles written by Buffett himself and articles about Buffett written by others. Compiled by Fortune magazine reporter Carol Loomis.
This book is too long. It took a long time to read. If you read it carefully, it will take a long time. This experience is not good at all. Because there may be no results if you don't think about it, so I read it for nothing.
This book describes the details of some of Buffett's past stories in great detail and is still very interesting. What impressed me most was the handling of the Salomon incident in the first half and the investment by BYD in the second half. It would be great if I read this book last year, maybe I bought BYD, hehe.
Gates said that people who finish reading this book will have three major gains:
- The first is the attitude towards work.
- The second is to cherish credibility.
- The third is about the number of actions.
2. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization
Gates said his favorite author is Vaclav Smil, a professor of environmental sciences. Gates commented on the book, "The material seems ordinary, but the material is an important factor in helping the world's most disadvantaged people improve their lives.
The quality of life in the United States and other developed countries has greatly improved in the past 100 years. We hope for the next 50 years. More miracles will happen."
The knowledge on the topic of materials is indeed very lacking, and I am too curious to understand the knowledge of this method. The starting point of this book is very high, the amount of information is really large, and the data is really large.
From ancient times to the present, those with data can be listed, and those without data can be inferred. This is the professional quality and strength.
In the past, I would only think of its advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses, application scope, and hazards for materials. However, this book has broadened my cognition. When looking at the material, it depends on the energy consumed when refining it.
For example, aluminum began to replace iron to become the mainstream of the world, but its production consumes 3000 times the energy of iron. Look at our technology to reduce the quantity of some items (the materials used in a single item are reduced, such as mobile phones becoming lighter and thinner),
but at the same time, it brings about an increase in the total amount (a single mobile phone uses fewer materials, but with the expansion of mobile phone sales The amount of materials used worldwide has increased several times).
Third, when looking at the material, we not only see that it reduces the number of goods for us, but also consider its service life and recyclability.
For example, cement production consumes huge energy, but its service life is only a few decades, which is not as environmentally friendly as wood.
For example, although aluminum consumes a lot of production, it can be recycled and reused, and the energy savings brought by more than 90% of recyclables are also considerable. On the contrary, high-density plastic is not as good as it is.
Therefore, when we understand the world and look at things, environmental and economic issues, we should have one more angle and one more thinking so that we will not enter an endless loop or dead end. Encourage all the monarchs.
3. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
It is easy to forget that every day in the present is also part of the history of the world. This book by Elizabeth Kolbert, a reporter for The New Yorker Magazine, may be able to change this mistake.
"Human overhauls and constructions have caused species migration, overfishing, and pollution of rivers around the world," Gates wrote. "Natural scientists have confirmed that there have been five mass extinction events on the earth.
There are a lot of facts in Kolbert's book that shows that humans may be the culprit for the sixth mass extinction."
In the book "The Age of the Great Extinction", the author Elizabeth takes us through those tragic events, and at the same time constitutes the argument for the sixth mass extinction. Some things have been personally experienced by the author, while others have come from historical sources.
She has always gently recounted sorrowful histories in the tone of a bystander. She doesn't make comments, and she rarely uses emotional words. In the face of such a heavy history and ongoing events, there is no need to say more, the taste is self-evident.
There are catastrophic photos of animals in the book. I hurried past those slightly horrifying photos. For me, photos can be swiped without looking at them; but for the animals in them, it is a lifetime of destruction, and there is no escape.
4. Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises
As the founder and former CEO of Microsoft, Gates faced a huge challenge of responsibility. Timothy Geithner was the Secretary of the Treasury when the financial crisis broke out. The complex situation he faced was no worse than Gates's.
"Geithner vividly described how he responded to the global financial crisis and critics from all walks of life." Gates wrote. "In response to the financial crisis, the politics involved will inevitably be very ugly. But it is good for the public to understand all this."
This book is very rich and detailed. It uses the personal experience and thoughts of the young U.S. Treasury secretary to fully describe the picture of the U.S. financial crisis-roughly like the financial market running out of two hundred Godzillas in the downtown area.
After the district rampage, government departments have only band-aids and tapes to repair the damage.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the U.S. government is undoubtedly very powerful, but when faced with the financial crisis, it is obviously so weak, powerless, and difficult internally and externally-this is far more than just government departments and international capital giants who have more power.
A powerful problem, but because the two sides have a decisive difference in their own basic characteristics in the competition.
Geithner, the youngest Secretary of the Treasury in the history of the United States, takes readers back to the years when he participated in, faced, and coordinated to solve the Latin American economic crisis, the Asian economic crisis, and the US subprime mortgage crisis, especially in the second place.
The image of the firefighter playing in the loan crisis is vivid and vivid. The whole book is compact, stressful, and connected. Detail Book Reviews
5. Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street
In 1991, Gates asked Buffett which book was his favorite.
Afterward, Buffett gave "Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Legends of Wall Street" to the founder of Microsoft. Although the story in the book comes from half a century ago, this book has always been Gates' favorite.
Gates mentioned that this book explains the basic principles of building a successful business well. "First of all, people are the foundation of every successful company.
It's just a perfect product, manufacturing plan, and marketing strategy. You need the right people to implement these plans."
"Business Adventure" is a masterpiece of John Brooks. This book has written the adventure stories of 12 companies. In these stories, some companies have won, and some companies have ultimately failed.
For me, I prefer to tell the story of failure in the book, because just as Jack Ma said at the opening ceremony of Lakeside University, only companies that fail in learning can succeed.
I am interested in this book, mostly because of Bill Gates. This book is so popular all over the world, that it can be said to a large extent that it is also thanks to the recommendation of Bill Gates spared no effort.
Bill Gates did not get any benefit from the sale of this book (of course, the richest man in the world does not earn advertising fees). The reason why he frequently recommends this "Business Adventure" is that he really thinks it is a book
Excellent business books are worthy of careful study by entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs, especially the story of Xerox, which allows him to see the crisis of Microsoft's prosperity.
6. The Bully Pulpit
Theodore Roosevelt is one of the most outstanding presidents of the United States. Gates was fascinated by how Roosevelt could achieve such a great achievement.
There are many answers to many questions in this book. Gates wrote: "How does social change happen? Can it be driven by an inspiring individual leader? Or do other factors need to lay the foundation first?"
"Although, Roosevelt tried to promote change early in his career," Gates mentioned. "But before the journalists and the media helped him gain public support, he was actually not very successful."
Theodore Roosevelt (hereinafter referred to as TR) and William Howard Taft (hereinafter referred to as Taft) can be regarded as two important figures in modern American history ( The former is more important, and the latter is also known because of its interaction with TR).
The context of this book basically revolves around two lines. One is the comparison between TR and Taft’s childhood experiences, studies, career, personal love, social communication, and the sorrows and joys of their friendship, and the other line is based on McClure.
The development process of progressive newspapers represented by Mr. Er puts the plot in the context of the gilded age connecting with the progressive era, the beginning of the progressive era, the climax, and then the end, showing the close connection and relationship between journalists and government work. Mutual influence is indeed worth reading.
I firmly believe that this is not just a biography: it is also an excellent novel. This novel has a rich plot, with the shocking scenes and plots of an American blockbuster, the sweetness and inspiration of love stories, and the joy of anti-corruption novels. Reflection; is like a faithful documentary.
Finally, what I want to express is that: as McClure said, the success of publications depends on "story is king." Working hard for such a classic work is a fan with a strong feeling of publishing-the most willing to stick to it!
7. Seveneves
Before reading this book, I did not come into contact with Neil Stephenson's other works, this is completely the first time.
Because I have tried to establish an overall understanding of this work before, the actual overall understanding of this book can only be understood after reading more content.
Because as a doomsday-themed work, the first quarter of the first month’s collapse described the situation in which the moon was bombed in an extremely relaxed style. It is difficult for me to establish the feeling that this is doomsday.
But the description of the technology indeed easy to establish the concept that this is an extremely hard-core science fiction work. The first impression was successfully labeled as hard science fiction.
After watching Neal Stephenson's Seven Eves day and night, I wanted to say a lot, but I never had time to sit down and write. Then last night, watching the results of the Brexit referendum, the stunned feeling was completely the opening description in the book. The moon was broken up into seven pieces for no reason. The people on earth were stunned.
The background of the story of Seven Eve is that the moon is broken up, so the frequency of meteorite collisions increases exponentially. As a result, the number of meteorites in two years is so large that it will completely destroy the earth.
Isn't it the same for Europe to change from the European Union back to a pan of sand? Dispersing a whole into small individuals increases the frequency of collisions with each other.
The two wars serve as a lesson for the past. The possibility of World War III will increase exponentially like the broken up moon, and the world will be lost. . .
8. How Not to Be Wrong
I heard that this is one of Bill Gates' ten favorite books, so I just got to read it. After reading the first two chapters, I still despise Gates a bit. With such a simple mathematical concept, what is worth recommending?
But after reading it, it's terrible, and it's getting more and more fascinating, and I feel a little bit overwhelmed.
The second, third, and fourth parts are recommended. The first part is a bit simpler; and the fifth part, especially the last chapter, feels too high in mathematics, but maybe my realm is too low.
The amount of knowledge the author is a bit surprising, not just knowledge of mathematics. In order to clarify the principles of mathematics, he did not list many formulas and logical derivations but used the method of storytelling to follow suit.
The story spans a wide range, with religion, politics, and all kinds of strange things, and if you take you to fly, you will be taken to fly. If you are not used to easily flashing to your waist. Halfway through the theorem, I suddenly pressed the button and started to tell an eight-pole intangible story.
You must be wondering: What does this have to do with what I said earlier? A few pages later, things turned around, and things turned out to be true. It feels like listening to storytelling.
The author's language is also very humorous, a bit similar to the cold humor of Sheldon in the big bang, and it is not boring at all.
For the sake of popular science writing, it can be said that both science and artistry are taken into account. No wonder Gates will respect it.
9. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The impression that this book gave me, in a word, is "unconventional." The author combines many aspects of his research, trying to interpret human history from a new and broad perspective, but because of his extensive and imprecise research, I have to say that he can't do anything in almost any aspect. good.
As far as a few areas I know better, as a semi-outsider, I can still pick out a lot of thorns.
Let me talk about his first argument that aroused my strong disgust: "The Agricultural Revolution is a deception. It deceived all human beings and led them to a less happy path."
At this point, the author seems to start with a noble attitude for the well-being of all mankind, taking "human happiness" as a yardstick for judging right and wrong. Only in this way can it be called a scam-the victim wants result A, the scammer (scam) promises to give result A, but the final result is non-A.
But the fact is that in the past two hundred years, before the awakening of humanism-even, even now the vast majority of humans pursued reproductive fanaticism, and no matter how hard or tired they are, they must spread their genes because they don't.
There is no such thing as a scam. What is even more boring is that historical research has always emphasized not judging ancient people based on modern human standards, but based on the moral values of the society at that time.
Otherwise, historical research will lose its meaning. You claim that successive emperors and monarchs are tyrants who disrespect the freedom of trade and that the actions of human beings in the Middle Ages who value reputation and so on are very stupid.
This is meaningless. Historical research is not designed to give modern humans a sense of superiority.
10. The Power to Compete
The Power to Compete: An Economist and an Entrepreneur on Revitalizing Japan in the Global Economy by Hiroshi Mikitani & Ryoichi Mikitani
As the title says, Bill Gates recommended the book in his blog. This book is a collection of conversations between Rakuten's founder Hiroshi Mikitani and his economist father Ryoichi Mikitani.
Topics include Japan’s stubborn illness, the rise of China, and the everlasting prosperity of the United States. Through these topics, we try to find ways to maintain and enhance our country’s competitiveness.
At present, our country’s argument on Japan’s economy is a bit split. One view is that Japan has completely fallen behind in the Internet era, consumer products have been replaced by South Korea and China, and repeated efforts to reform have failed.
The other is that Japan is still in full leadership in many areas and is still a very efficient giant. A typical example of this kind of division is Sony, which will go bankrupt and sell the building, and will have all kinds of black technologies.
The main point of the book is how Japan can remain competitive in the process of globalization: strengthen English education, eliminate bureaucracy, abolish lifelong tenure, open up the market, upgrade IT infrastructure, introduce talents and companies, etc.
I stayed in Tokyo for a while and visited several schools. I think Japan is still a wealthy country, with a perfect combination of tradition and modernity, high quality of life, and a complete education system.
However, people's English is very poor, and women in the workplace are indeed rare. So I think the author’s idea is very good. More women go to work and more people learn English. After all, Japan’s future is quite bright.
11. The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life
First of all, this is not an easy-to-read book. There are many chemistry and biology terms involved in the book, but fortunately, Lane will give a rigorous explanation when introducing any terms.
In the introduction, Lane said: "I hope that all interested readers can read the book after occasionally referencing the relevant vocabulary."
Some people will say that this is "persuading", but I think this is because Lane is like everyone who is interested. The reader throws a challenge: accept this challenge, and the grand epic of life opens.
When reading a book, I always open my palms involuntarily and stare at my hands, marveling at how many unexplainable and unintelligible miracles of nature are working under this plain surface, and they have gone through hundreds of millions of years. How lucky it is to change and evolve!
We are all too accustomed to life, but where it comes from, how it develops, and even what death is, these questions-vital questions-have been ignored.
Although there is a lot of biological vocabulary in the book that I need to look up in the dictionary, and many illustrations I can't understand, the impact of this book is not discounted at all.
The terms protons, elements, chemical reactions (oxidation, redox), symbiosis, mitochondria, chromosomes, and sex have since gained new meanings. The understanding of life has also been unlocked in a new dimension.
How lucky! If you are curious about life, curious about yourself, and curious about human beings, try to read this book and let yourself go back to the distant past of the earth, starting from an ancient cell, understanding the beginning of life is also the beginning of understanding yourself!
12. The Great Gatsby
Last summer, I read "The Great Gatsby" for the last time in a room. When I read the epic chant at the end, I thought that I might find Murakami like this book. Reason.
After all, it has nothing to do with the American dream, with love, and with the experience of Westerners in the eastern United States. It is only about youth, dreams and failure, and the courage to pursue dreams. But there is no compromise. We continue to strive forward, sailing against the current...
The story is surprisingly efficient, full of drama, coincidence, and compact tension. It is like reading a suspenseful novel. Even a small fragment will seem to be mentioned casually at the end and pieced together to form the most critical mystery.
However, what fascinates me most is that even such a highly efficient novel, like a high-speed motor, does not appear to be vulgar, or hollow, and does not appear to be too meticulously woven and tiresome.
Fitzgerald makes a magic trick full of warmth and sadness. Like a sad fairy tale, the froth studded with gold rim is so real and delicate the noise and glitz.
Does Gatsby really exist?
Like a sad fable, Fitzgerald, did it really exist? Why can he write an elegy to this country, this era, including himself, in prosperous America, the golden age, and the prosperous reputation?
It's like Gatsby's love, humble to ridiculous, solemn to pitiful. Fitzgerald was abandoned by his time, and died suddenly with the dream of re-emergence, just like a sad character in his own novel.
He loves those prosperous ones, otherwise, he won't be so tiresome to write their details. At the same time, he knows that these are just phantoms, so he will write about how they disillusioned so affectionately.
They don’t know how science can advance the world, and they don’t really understand how the economy manipulates the entire era. They don't know the almighty palm behind entertainment and wealth, or even how to manage their own destiny well.
However, they trace the huge and small contexts, wind directions, and shadows of the entire era. They pay attention to every insignificant or triumphant heart. They have insight into the secrets of the entire era. They are not inferred and proven, but intuitive, sensitive, and natural.
He wrote it all out and then was forgotten. Just like the little mermaid, maybe he never really existed, in this world.
13. Parenting With Love And Logic
This book is mainly to advise parents to let their children bear the natural consequences of their choices, rather than to enter the vicious circle of parents' persuasion to be invalid, angry, beating and scolding their children, and continuing next time.
Some practice: I now let the two children begin to have some housework responsibilities because they are also part of the family and cannot just enjoy the services of their mothers. In fact, they also like to take responsibility, but give them real meaningful work.
For example, food preparation: washing vegetables, cutting vegetables, peeling, peeling garlic, beating eggs, set table, and so on.
The work in the kitchen can always make them interested, and it can also encourage them to eat more without being picky eaters because they are involved in doing it themselves.
The second little bit of experience is that you need to provide tools suitable for your child's height or small hands, and tasks that match the characteristics of the age.
Especially for young children, if the tools are inappropriate or the task is too difficult, the child will not be able to do a good job but will feel frustrated and lose interest in the future. It is a good way to prepare exclusive cutting boards for plastic knives, small aprons, and small carts at home.
The author mentioned that positive self-esteem comes from a sense of accomplishment, not just praise and appreciation. I think it makes sense. Children get achievements through hard work. This internal process helps them build good self-awareness and self-confidence.
14. Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air
This book focuses on sustainable energy in the UK. The cause is energy security and global warming. It proposes problems, solutions, and specific technical details. Clarified a lot of unreliable rumors.
Although coal and oil prices have fallen recently, the premise is that oil-producing countries increase production, not that humans’ reliance on chemical energy is reduced.
However, from the author who published this book in 2012 to now in 2016, many things have changed. Shale gas, asteroid mining, improved photovoltaic power generation efficiency, popularization of electric vehicles, fourth-generation nuclear power plants, the realization of recyclable rockets, and staged breakthroughs in controllable nuclear fusion technology.
In the long run, sustainable energy will no longer be the main problem for mankind. In fact, it has never been. Human greed and material arrogance are.
In theory, mankind has never had such an opportunity for peaceful and great development at a historical moment. Generally speaking, it has a guiding significance for engaging in sustainable energy.
15. The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
The book "The Good Angels in Human Nature" aims to break the illusion that the twentieth century is full of war and destruction, "the present is not as good as the old", and to look for the overall downward trend of violence in the long history. Various reasons.
The author points out that this illusion is actually caused by psychological factors: the person who fortunes the future can always win more attention, we always look at the present realistically and romanticize the memories of the irrelevant past.
However, the statistics clearly point out that the violence in the pre-state society is far greater than that in the state, and the violence in (and between) class societies or strong ideological countries is far greater than that in (and between) democratic countries) Violence.
The author of this book is a professor of psychology at Harvard. The study of psychology is the study of psychological hallucinations.
If it were not for the study of hallucinations, there would be no psychology: the refraction of light on the surface of different media is a physical phenomenon. Only when the chopsticks in your brain water are bent, is it a psychological illusion.
Psychological research is to pierce the illusion, to help humans muster the courage to laugh at the distorted illusion in the haha mirror.
For example, when he talked about the war on terrorism in the 21st century, he believed that excessive attention to terrorism was purely psychological: terrorists have been active for a long time, and we used to dismiss them.
The reason they are drawing attention today is precisely the result of the more brutal violence that has disappeared.
The casualty rate caused by terrorists is minimal, and the reason why terrorists adopt this tactic precisely shows that fundamental ideology can only use the means of "creating terrorist emotions" to create psychological strikes, and cannot carry out effective material strikes. They have no strength except dying madness.
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