If you’re looking for books that will help you lead a smarter, healthier, more successful life, you couldn’t do better than taking a cue from the bookshelf of Bill Gates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bill Gates is a famously avid reader, reading about 50 books a year and publishing two blog posts a year dedicated to the ones he thinks everyone should read. The eclectic list ranges from novels and memoirs to tomes on science, education, international development, and history. Check out some of his favorite books here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don’t have as much time as Bill Gates to read? That’s where Shortform<\/a> comes in. With Shortform, you can get the key lessons from the best nonfiction books in minutes, not in hours. Our experts condense the key lessons from recommended books like these into an efficient summary. Check out our high-quality summaries of these 14 books to see if you can learn more quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Sapiens In Sapiens<\/em>, Yuval Noah Harari uses concepts from biology, history, and economics to tell the story of us, Homo sapiens<\/em>. We start 2.5 million years ago, when Sapiens make their historical entrance, and end in the future, when the creation of an artificially created superhuman race may mark the end of the Sapiens species. Along the way, we learn how our ability to create imagined realities led to our dominance over other species. We watch as the Agricultural Revolution<\/a>, the Scientific Revolution<\/a>, imperialism, capitalism<\/a>, and the Industrial Revolution<\/a> change our species in lasting, and not always positive, ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, we\u2019re left with one question: As we design our future, who do we want to become? Asking the right questions<\/a> may be more important than finding the right answers. Read this book to explore our history as a species\u2014in doing so, you\u2019ll see today\u2019s world in an entirely new way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates was eager for his wife to read Sapiens <\/em>as well, so they could discuss its theories. He writes<\/a>, “I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history….Harari tells our history in such an approachable way that you’ll have a hard time putting it down.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: The Sixth Extinction In The Sixth Extinction<\/em>, journalist Elizbeth Kolbert argues that by drastically changing the shape of the earth and the composition of the atmosphere, humans have set in motion a sixth mass extinction that may one day be our undoing. The book revisits five previous mass extinction events<\/a> spanning five hundred million years and compares them to the rapid, widespread extinctions underway today of a range of species including frogs, corals, birds, and rhinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These extinctions are a consequence of human-created global warming and ocean acidification, the destruction and fragmentation of forests, and our spread of invasive species<\/a> around the world. What\u2019s more, these actions will determine the course of life on the planet long after our species is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates says of author Kolbert<\/a>, “Unlike a lot of people who write about the environment, Kolbert doesn\u2019t resort to hype. She just lays out the facts and wraps them in memorable anecdotes. It\u2019s a sobering but engaging and informative read.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Factfulness Factfulness: Ten Reasons We\u2019re Wrong About the World\u2014And Why Things Are Better Than You Think<\/em> explores the misconceptions that color our view of the world. Whether it\u2019s global poverty, epidemics, war, or terrorism, we tend to have a dramatic, negative view of the world: that things are worse than they\u2019ve ever been and they\u2019re getting worse all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this view is wrong. By almost any measure, there\u2019s never been a better time to be alive than right now. The book walks us through ten instincts that distort how we understand global problems, and offers solutions for overcoming these instincts\u2014turning our dramatic worldview into a factful one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates says of the book<\/a>, “Factfulness<\/em> is one of the most educational books I\u2019ve ever read…The framework Hans enunciates is one that took me decades of working in global development to create for myself, and I could have never expressed it in such a clear way. I\u2019m going to try to use this model moving forward.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Shoe Dog Shoe Dog<\/em> is the story of how Nike was founded, from the viewpoint of Nike\u2019s founder, Phil Knight. Nike is now a global brand \u2013 go pretty much anywhere in the world, and you\u2019ll see someone wearing Nikes. But Shoe Dog<\/em> starts you over 50 years ago in 1962, when Phil Knight is 24 years old and doesn\u2019t know what to do with his life. You travel the next 18 years with Phil Knight, through continuous adversity, financial uncertainty, and self-doubt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates says<\/a>, “Shoe Dog<\/em>, Phil Knight\u2019s memoir about creating Nike, is a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Born a Crime Born a Crime<\/em> is the story of a strong-willed black mother and her mixed-race child as they traverse life in South Africa during apartheid<\/a>. When comedian Trevor Noah was born in the mid-1980s, his birth was a crime under the laws of apartheid, forbade whites and blacks from mixing and procreating. Growing up during and after apartheid, Noah struggled to understand where he belonged in this racially divided environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through anecdotes from Noah and his mother\u2019s life and details regarding the elements and consequences of apartheid, Noah provides an insider\u2019s perspective of racism, survival, abuse, love, and the importance of heritage in a society built on difference and oppression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates says of Noah<\/a>, “His humor has a lightness and optimism that\u2019s refreshing to watch. What\u2019s most impressive is how he uses his outside perspective to his advantage.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: When Breath Becomes Air<\/a> When Breath Becomes Air<\/em> is the beautiful and heart-wrenching memoir of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgical resident diagnosed with lung cancer in the last year of his training. When the life Paul and his wife Lucy imagined for their futures ceases in the face of his diagnosis, he works to understand what his new life will look like and how long it will be. Through various treatments, his struggle to return to work, and the birth of his first and only child, Paul details his personal journey of discovering the meaning of life, death, and the thin line separating them. He explores what it means to save a life—not only his patients\u2019, but his own, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates says<\/a>, “It\u2019s an amazing book….In fact, I can say this is the best nonfiction story I\u2019ve read in a long time.” “This short book has so many layers of meaning and so many interesting juxtapositions\u2014life and death, patient and doctor, son and father, work and family, faith and reason”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Outliers No one starts with nothing. Rags-to-riches stories fool us because although they may be factually true\u2014you may start your life poor and finish it rich\u2014they leave out all the advantages of circumstances that contribute to success. Further, they make us believe that success is an individual achievement. But no one succeeds alone. In Outliers<\/em>, Malcolm Gladwell shows us that where you\u2019re from and the opportunities you\u2019re given matter as much as personal advantages such as talent and intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of Outliers, <\/a><\/em>Gates says<\/a>, “His book makes a lot of great points. That is, that in all success stories<\/a>, there are significant elements of luck and timing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Mindset You have powerful beliefs that affect what you want in life and whether you get it. In Mindset<\/em>, psychologist and researcher Carol S. Dweck argues that your mindset can determine the course of much of your life, starting as early as your preschool years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You learn one of two mindsets<\/a> from your parents, teachers, and coaches: that personal qualities such as intelligence and ability are innate and unchangeable (the fixed mindset<\/a>) or that you and others can change and grow (the growth mindset<\/a>). Understanding and adjusting your mindset can change your career, relationships, the way you raise your children, and your overall satisfaction in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates calls <\/a>Mindset<\/a> <\/em>a “fascinating work” and says, “Dweck\u2019s research had a big impact on our thinking….And in the years since, Dweck and her research have helped my foundation colleagues and me understand more about the attitudes and habits that allow some students to persevere in school despite big challenges.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: The Checklist Manifesto In the 21st century, we can do extraordinary things: we can predict dangerous storms, explore distant planets, and save people from life-threatening conditions and injuries. Yet highly trained, experienced, and capable people regularly make avoidable mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In The Checklist Manifesto<\/em>, Boston surgeon Atul Gawande contends the reason is that knowledge and complexity in many fields have exceeded the capacity of any individual to get everything right. Under pressure, we make simple mistakes and overlook the obvious. Drawing lessons from spectacular successes and failures in recent years, he argues that the solution is a checklist. The book builds the case for checklists and issues a plea for adopting this backstop to human fallibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates writes<\/a>, “I’m fascinated by the work of Dr. Atul Gawande.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Hillbilly Elegy Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis<\/em> examines the spiritual and social decline of the Appalachian white working class<\/a> through the life story of its author, JD Vance. Growing up in a post-industrial Ohio town, Vance encountered the symptoms of community and familial dysfunction\u2014drug and alcohol abuse, unstable marriages, lack of education, and evasion of hard work\u2014that underscore the failing values of the culture from which he came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Vance eventually escapes the poverty and dysfunction of his roots, attending college and Yale Law School, he finds that even economic mobility<\/a> can never permanently erase the social markers of his hillbilly upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Hillbilly Elegy<\/em> gave me new insights into poverty in America<\/a>,” Gates says<\/a> of this “terrific, heartbreaking book.” “As I read the book I thought about what can be done to empower and create opportunity in poor communities, rural and urban alike.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Thinking, Fast and Slow We\u2019re so self-confident in our rationality that we think all our decisions are well-considered. When we choose a job, decide how to spend our time, or buy something, we think we\u2019ve considered all the relevant factors and are making the optimal choice. In reality, our minds are riddled with biases leading to poor decision making. We ignore data that we don’t see, and we weigh evidence inappropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinking, Fast and Slow<\/em> is a masterful book on psychology and behavioral economics by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman. Learn your two systems of thinking, how you make decisions, and your greatest vulnerabilities to bad decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates put Thinking, Fast and Slow <\/em>on his list of favorite books<\/a> in the summer of 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Educated Educated: A Memoir<\/em> is Tara Westover\u2019s autobiography. In it, she shows us her transformation from being the daughter of survivalist, fundamentalist, anti-science<\/a>, anti-medicine, and anti-education parents, to becoming a Cambridge-educated historian. Westover gains the strength to break free from the ideological chains of her youth and discovers the agency to make her own choices about how she sees and experiences the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it is about one individual\u2019s journey, Educated<\/em> speaks to universal themes of self-liberation, the power of education, the perils of extreme ideology, and the trauma of domestic abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates writes<\/a>, “Educated<\/em> is even better than you’ve heard…It\u2019s the kind of book that I think everyone will enjoy, no matter what genre you usually pick up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Bad Blood Theranos was a high-flying blood test startup. Founded in 2003 by 19-year old Stanford dropout Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos raised over $700 million in investment at a $9 billion valuation. The problem? It was all fake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What led professional investors, Walgreens, and luminaries like Henry Kissinger to be blind-sided by Theranos\u2019s deception? Learn about the rise and fall of this cautionary startup and the psychological biases<\/a> at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Says Gates of <\/a>Bad Blood<\/a><\/em>, “I couldn’t put down this thriller with a tragic ending.” “Theranos is the worst-case scenario of what happens when a CEO prioritizes personal legacy above all else.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \r\nTITLE: Why We Sleep You’re probably getting less sleep than you should be. Many people are more chronically sleep-deprived than they realize, and the punishments for this are severe \u2013 reduced productivity and happiness, and increased risk of a panel of diseases. Why We Sleep<\/em> discusses how sleep happens, its major benefits, and the best ways to get better sleep<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gates says of <\/a>Why We Sleep<\/a><\/em>, “Now that I\u2019ve read Matthew Walker\u2019s Why We Sleep, I realize that my all-nighters, combined with almost never getting eight hours of sleep, took a big toll. The book was recommended to me by my daughter Jenn and John Doerr….Why We Sleep<\/em> is an important and fascinating book.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you’re looking for books that will help you lead a smarter, healthier, more successful life, you couldn’t do better than taking a cue from the bookshelf of Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a famously avid reader, reading about 50 books a year and publishing two blog posts a year dedicated to the ones he thinks everyone should read. The eclectic list ranges from novels and memoirs to tomes on science, education, international development, and history. Check out some of his favorite books here. Don’t have as much time as Bill Gates to read? That’s where Shortform comes in. With<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-7564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-book-list","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\n1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Yuval Noah Harari
\r\nTIME: 74
\r\nREADS: 36.7
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/sapiens-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: sapiens-a-brief-history-of-humankind-book-summary-yuval-noah-harari
\r\nAMZN_ID: B00ICN066A
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n2. The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Elizabeth Kolbert
\r\nTIME: 32
\r\nREADS: 22.2
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/sixth-extinction-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: the-sixth-extinction-an-unnatural-history-summary-elizabeth-kolbert
\r\nAMZN_ID: B00EGJE4G2
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World\u2014<\/em>and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling R\u04e7nnlund<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Hans Rosling
\r\nTIME: 28
\r\nREADS: 32.8
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/factfulness_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: factfulness-summary-hans-rosling
\r\nAMZN_ID: B0756J1LLV
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n4. Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Phil Knight
\r\nTIME: 22
\r\nREADS: 68.2
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/shoedog_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: shoe-dog-summary-phil-knight
\r\nAMZN_ID: B0176M1A44
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n5. Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Trevor Noah
\r\nTIME: 45
\r\nREADS: 28.2
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/born-a-crime-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: born-a-crime-summary-trevor-noah
\r\nAMZN_ID: B01DHWACVY
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n6. When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Paul Kalanithi
\r\nTIME: 26
\r\nREADS: 26.5
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/whenbreathbecomesair_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: when-breath-becomes-air-summary-paul-kalanithi
\r\nAMZN_ID: B00XSSYR50
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n7. Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Malcolm Gladwell
\r\nTIME: 31
\r\nREADS: 30.5
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/outliers_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: outliers-summary-malcolm-gladwell
\r\nAMZN_ID: B001ANYDAO
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n8. Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential, by Carol Dweck<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Carol S. Dweck
\r\nTIME: 42
\r\nREADS: 33.1
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/mindset-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: mindset-the-new-psychology-of-success-summary-carol-dweck
\r\nAMZN_ID: B000FCKPHG
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n9. The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Atul Gawande
\r\nTIME: 24
\r\nREADS: 36
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/checklistmanifesto-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: the-checklist-manifesto-summary-atul-gawande
\r\nAMZN_ID: B0030V0PEW
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n10. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: J.D. Vance
\r\nTIME: 31
\r\nREADS: 24.7
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/hillbillyelegy-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: hillbilly-elegy-summary-jd-vance
\r\nAMZN_ID: B079L5DDB4
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n11. Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Daniel Kahneman
\r\nTIME: 66
\r\nREADS: 53.8
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thinking_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: thinking-fast-and-slow-summary-daniel-kahneman
\r\nAMZN_ID: B00555X8OA
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n12. Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Tara Westover
\r\nTIME: 32
\r\nREADS: 32.8
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/educated-cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: educated-summary-tara-westover
\r\nAMZN_ID: B072BLVM83
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n13. Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, by John Carreyrou<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: John Carreyrou
\r\nTIME: 15
\r\nREADS: 35.4
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/badblood_cover_plain.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: bad-blood-summary-john-carreyrou-theranos
\r\nAMZN_ID: B078VW3VM7
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n14. Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\r\nAUTHOR: Matthew Walker
\r\nTIME: 22
\r\nREADS: 75.7
\r\nIMG_URL: https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/whywesleep_cover.jpg
\r\nBOOK_SUMMARYURL: why-we-sleep-summary-matthew-walker
\r\nAMZN_ID: B06ZZ1YGJ5
\r\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n