“5 books I loved reading this year” by Bill Gates

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft is a philanthropist, innovator, entrepreneur, businessman and one of the most influential personalities of our times.

Smartphones, streaming video, home banking and even a pandemic with devastating effects were some of the predictions of the American billionaire, which classifies him as a visionary mind whose opinion deserves to be followed.

Annually Gates publishes his holiday reading list, with the recommendation of 5 books that he read in the past year. The 2021 list is already available on his blog “Gates notes” and contains the following books:

 

A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence
Jeff Hawkins

 

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The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Walter Isaacson

 

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Project Hail Mary
Andy Weir

 

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Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro

 

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Hamnet: a novel of the plague
Maggie O’Farrell

 

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Usually focused on non-fiction books, Gates’ list this year features two science fiction stories. “When I was a kid, I was obsessed with science fiction”, he says on his blog. The list he presents this year reveals the approach to this literary genre, that although fictional, talks about “how people can use technology to respond to challenges”.

The list also features a fictional biography, inspired by the Shakespearean universe and two books of a more scientific nature, which address issues such as the human brain, artificial intelligence and genetics.

All these books are already available at the Teresa e Alexandre Soares dos Santos Library, next to the informal reading area on the 1st floor.

Happy Holidays and good readings

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