I feel like when Bill Gates advises you to do something, you should probably do it. Guy didn’t become worth nearly $80 billion by making bad decisions, you know? P.s. in case you’re living under a rock, the $75.2 billion fortune he boasts – calculated in real-time, thanks to Forbes – makes him the richest man in the world. The funny thing too, is that number just increased to $75.3 billion in the time it took me to link it. Dude just made a cool $100,000,000 in 90 seconds. So yeah, listen up.
Bill’s checking in with five must-reads for the summertime, and though the list is quite genre-spanning, they all sound like they offer some great takes own right. There’s definitely something on his list for everyone. And c’mon, don’t make excuses. You’re perfectly capable of drinking a beer AND simultaneously reading a book while you get that beach time in this summer…
Here’s the name and author of each book in the order Gates presented them above, for easy reference. Both the book title and the link below will take you over to Amazon to snag a copy!
1. The Vital Question, by Nick Lane
“[Lane] argues that we can only understand how life began, and how living things got so complex, by understanding how energy works. It’s not just theoretical; mitochondria (the power plants in our cells) could play a role in fighting cancer and malnutrition.”
GET THIS BOOK!
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2. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Noah Yuval Harari
“There’s a lot of things about early human history that a lot of people haven’t been exposed to and [Harari] is good and succinct on that. He goes off in many directions, like ‘Are we happier than we’ve ever been?’ and a lot about robots. It’s got the broad framework. It’s a great book.”
GET THIS BOOK!
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3. How Not to be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg
“This book has tons of good stuff in it for non-mathematicians. [Ellenberg] updates you about the world of math, what advancements have taken place. His enthusiasm comes across.”
GET THIS BOOK!
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4. The Power to Compete, by Ryoichi Mikitani and Hiroshi Mikitani
“To me, Japan’s fascinating. In the 1980s and ’90s, the Japanese were just turning out engineering and doing great stuff. How did they lose their way? Why haven’t these companies not been more innovative?”
GET THIS BOOK!
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5. Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson
“The plot gets going in the first sentence, when the moon blows up. People figure out that in two years a cataclysmic meteor shower will wipe out all life on Earth, so the world unites on a plan to keep humanity going by launching as many spacecraft as possible into orbit … Seveneves inspired me to rekindle my sci-fi habit.”
Snag up a few of those babies and you’re on your way to erudite in no time. Simple as that. Coming from the richest dude on earth. You’d be a fool not to listen!
For some more of Bill Gates’ book recommendations, here’s another list he offered up last Fall. There’s also some awesome stuff over on the GatesNotes Youtube page.
Happy reading, Bros.
[h/t Entrepreneur]