Bill Gates

"Melinda and I loved this memoir of a young woman whose thirst for learning was so strong that she ended up getting a Ph.D. from Cambridge University."

"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."

"In his latest book, Mukherjee guides us through the past, present, and future of genome science, with a special focus on huge ethical questions that the latest and greatest genome technologies provoke."

"This gorgeous graphic novel is a deeply personal memoir that explores what it means to be a parent and a refugee."

"I’ve been recommending this book since the day it came out. It’s a fitting final word from a brilliant man, and one of the best books I’ve ever read."

Homo Deus argues that the principles that have organized society will undergo a huge shift in the 21st century, with major consequences for life as we know it.

"How did countries like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and China achieve sustained, high growth? And why have so few other countries managed to do so?"

"By the time I finished it, I learned a lot not only about Vietnam but about the eight other major conflicts the U.S. entered between the turn of the 19th century and the 1970s."

"21 Lessons offers a helpful framework for processing the news and thinking about the challenges we face."

"Isaacson does the best job I’ve seen of pulling together the different strands of Leonardo’s life and explaining what made him so exceptional."

"Nick is one of those original thinkers who makes you say: More people should know about this guy’s work."

"It is a brilliant concept, because if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t really understand it."

"I’m sure 25-year-old me would scoff at this one, but Melinda and I have gotten really into meditation lately."

"Smil is one of my favorite authors, and this is his masterpiece. He lays out how our need for energy has shaped human history—from the era of donkey-powered mills to today’s quest for renewable energy."

"The facts and history that Emanuel lays out would be useful to anyone involved in the debate over health care, no matter what their point of view is."

The plot gets going in the first sentence, when the moon blows up.

"Ellenberg, a mathematician and writer, explains how math plays into our daily lives without our even knowing it."

"It’s a funny and profound book about being comfortable with who you are and what you’re good at. I’m sending copies to several friends!"

"Collier’s latest book is a thought-provoking look at a topic that’s top of mind for a lot of people right now."

"e makes a good case that the move to containerized shipping had an enormous impact on the global economy and changed the way the world does business. And he turns it into a very readable narrative.

"Autonomous weapons aren’t exactly top of mind for most around the holidays, but this thought-provoking look at A.I. in warfare is hard to put down."

"I’m a big fan of everything Jared has written, and his latest is no exception. The book explores how societies react during moments of crisis."

"I’m a big fan of books that go deep on one specific topic, so Nine Pints (the title refers to the volume of blood in the average adult) was right up my alley."

"This is one of those fascinating, ambiguous books you’ll want to discuss with a friend when you’re done."

"There is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil. Here he gives as clear and as numeric a picture as is possible of how humans have altered the biosphere."

"Jerven, an economist, spent four years digging into how African nations get their statistics and the challenges they face in turning them into GDP estimates."

"You come away from it with a clearer sense of how we can use the lessons of the past to guide future efforts to save lives."

"Brown shows that the leaders who make the biggest contributions to history and humanity generally are not the ones we perceive to be strong leaders."

"I’ve met Knight a few times over the years. He’s super nice, but he’s also quiet and difficult to get to know. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do."

"Warren Buffett recommended this book to me back in 1991, and it’s still the best business book I’ve ever read."