4SummerBooks2016
Bill Gates has once again chosen some of his favorite summer reads. Photo: GatesNotes.com

Summer came early in Seattle this year and Northwest native Bill Gates just released his recommended beach reads to help you celebrate.

In an ongoing tradition, the voracious reader and Microsoft co-founder posted a list of books to take outside and enjoy in the sunshine.

GatesNotes.com
GatesNotes.com

“This summer, my recommended reading list has a good dose of books with science and math at their core,” he said in a blog post Tuesday. “But there’s no science or math to my selection process. The following five books are simply ones that I loved, made me think in new ways, and kept me up reading long past when I should have gone to sleep.”

The list features books on wide range of topics from science fiction to Japanese economics. How Not to be Wrong examines the math behind everyday phenomena and Seveneves, Gates says, “inspired me to rekindle my sci-fi habit.”

Here’s the list, in no particular order, with links to Gates’ reviews and a few comments from the billionaire software pioneer.

  • Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
    “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.”
  • The Power to Compete by Hiroshi Mikitani and Ryoichi Mikitani
    “Japan is intensely interesting to anyone who follows global economics…The Power to Compete is a smart look at the future of a fascinating country.”
  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
    “Harari takes on a daunting challenge: to tell the entire history of the human race in just 400 pages. He also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future.”
  • How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg
    “Ellenberg, a mathematician and writer, explains how math plays into our daily lives without our even knowing it.”
  • The Vital Question by Nick Lane
    More people should know about this guy’s work. He is trying to right a scientific wrong by getting people to fully appreciate the role that energy plays in all living things.

Watch Gates talk about his summer reading list in the video below.

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