Bill Gates Shares Summer Book List — Including Sci-Fi Novel About Gender Equity Daughter Jennifer Suggested

Gates Notes Bill Gates

One of the best things about the summer? Having more time to read.

On Monday, Bill Gates released his annual summer book list. This year, his five picks tackle important topics like "gender equality, political polarization, climate change, and the hard truth that life never goes the way young people think it will," the Microsoft co-founder, 66, wrote on his blog.

Gates admitted that the books he selected don't "exactly sound like the stuff of beach reads."

"But none of the five books below feel heavy," he continued. "Each of the writer's — three novelists, a journalist, and a scientist — was able to take a meaty subject and make it compelling without sacrificing any complexity."

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The billionaire and philanthropist shared that the first book on his list came from the suggestion of somebody very near and dear to his heart: his 26-year-old daughter, Jennifer Gates.

"I'm glad that I followed my older daughters' recommendation and read this novel," he wrote of The Power by Naomi Alderman.

"It cleverly uses a single idea — what if all the women in the world suddenly gained the power to produce deadly electric shocks from their bodies? — to explore gender roles and gender equality," he continued.

Gates wrote that reading the book helped him gain "a stronger and more visceral sense of the abuse and injustice many women experience today."

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For his second pick, Gates went with Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein.

"In this insightful book, Klein argues persuasively that the cause of this split is identity — the human instinct to let our group identities guide our decision making," Gates wrote.

Next, Gates highlighted a book by an author that's made his summer reading list before: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.

"Set in 1954, it's about two brothers who are trying to drive from Nebraska to California to find their mother," Gates wrote, noting that the trip "is thrown way off-course by a volatile teenager from the older brother's past."

As for the author's general message? Gates wrote that Towles "seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope."

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Gates' next pick came at the recommendation of many people, who told him it "dramatized many of the issues" he wrote about in this 2021 book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.

"I'm glad I picked it up, because it's terrific," he wrote of The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.

"It's so complex that it's hard to summarize, but Robinson presents a stimulating and engaging story, spanning decades and continents, packed with fascinating ideas and people," he wrote.

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Last, but certainly not least, is How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil — which Gates called a "masterpiece."

"Unlike most of Vaclav's books, which read like textbooks and go super-deep on one topic, this one is written for a general audience and gives an overview of the main areas of his expertise," Gates wrote of the book — which Gates Notes Insiders can download a free chapter of through the blog.

Speaking of the wide range of picks, Gates shared that he "loved all five."

"Hope you find something here you'll enjoy too," he added.