A wealth of holiday reading courtesy of Bill Gates’ book recommendations

Bill Gates is out with his annual list of holiday books. This year, he’s chosen some all-time favorites, instead of the best from his past year’s readings.

Over the last decade, Gates has shared many books that inspire his creative thinking or connect him to futurists around the world, but the five titles in the 2022 list span a wide selection of topics.

“Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert Heinlin

On his GatesNotes blog, the Microsoft co-founder said one of them is a science fiction classic he enjoyed as did the late Paul Allen, when they were just kids. It’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” by Robert Heinlin.

“It tells the story of a young man who returns to Earth after growing up on Mars and starts a new religion,” Gates wrote. “I think the best science fiction pushes your thinking about what’s possible in the future.”

“Team of Rivals” by Doris Kearns-Goodwin

Historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals” about Abraham Lincoln is described by Gates as the author’s masterpiece.

“I can’t read enough about Abraham Lincoln, and this is one of the best books on the subject,” Gates proclaimed.

“The Inner Game of Tennis” by Robert Gallwey

A somewhat unexpected title is “The Inner Game of Tennis” by Robert Gallwey. Gates wrote that “even though the book is a must-read for anyone who plays tennis, I think even people who have never played, will get something out of it.

“(Gallwey) gives excellent advice about how to move on constructively from mistakes, which I’ve tried to follow both on and off the court over the years.”

“Mendeleyev’s Dream” by Paul Strathern

He also included a book on the periodic table of the elements – “Mendeleyev’s Dream” by Paul Strathern.

“Surrender” by Bono

But perhaps the most surprising book on the list is “Surrender” by Bono of U-2 fame. Gates calls it the “best memoir by a rock star.”

It’s also the most recent book on the list. He does a little name-dropping in this recommendation, saying he is lucky enough to call Bono a friend.

But, Gates said he was surprised by the stories the artist included.

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A clever YouTube video included in Gates’ blog post includes him driving around the world in a classic car and delivering 5-packs of his books to little free libraries around the globe.

At the end of the video, there is a list of 100 cities where these books can actually be found.

The Pacific Northwest is home to many of these cities, including Bremerton, Bellevue, Kirkland, Tacoma, Redmond, Seattle, and Enumclaw. Also included are such remote locations as Perth and Brisbane, Australia, Helsinki, Finland, and Johannesburg, South Africa.

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