Bill Gates’s Favorite Five Books For 2018 And What Gates Had To Say About Each.

That’s it. Of all the outstanding books that grabbed our attention in 2018, these are the five titles Bill Gates says he loved in 2018 (most of them published this year). In a recent blog post discussing his favorite titles of 2018, the Microsoft founder said that both he and his wife Melinda enjoy sitting down to meditate — but on comfortable chairs instead of floor mats.

“There’s no way I could do the lotus position,” he said.

Bill Gates, the richest or second-richest person the world (depending on how Amazon’s stock is doing), consumes about 50 books a year. Every December, of those 50 or so books, he chooses his top five. For a productive start to 2019, crack open one of Bill Gates’s favorites this holiday season.

Bill Gates’s 5 favorite reads for 2018:

1. Army of None, by Paul Scharre (Norton).
Available on Amazon.
Bill Gates’ review: “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. It’s an immensely complicated topic, but Scharre offers clear explanations and presents both the pros and cons of machine-driven warfare. His fluency with the subject should come as no surprise: he’s a veteran who helped draft the U.S. government’s policy on autonomous weapons.”

2. Bad Blood, by John Carreyrou (Knopf).
Available on Amazon.
Bill Gates’ review: “A bunch of my friends recommended this one to me. Carreyrou gives you the definitive insider’s look at the rise and fall of Theranos. The story is even crazier than I expected, and I found myself unable to put it down once I started. This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly $10 billion.”

3. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari (Spiegel & Grau).
Available on Amazon.
Bill Gates’ review: “I’m a big fan of everything Harari has written, and his latest is no exception. While Sapiens and Homo Deus covered the past and future respectively, this one is all about the present. If 2018 has left you overwhelmed by the state of the world, 21 Lessons offers a helpful framework for processing the news and thinking about the challenges we face.”

4. The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness, by Andy Puddicombe (St. Martin’s Griffin).
Available on Amazon.
Bill Gates’ review: “I’m sure 25-year-old me would scoff at this one, but Melinda and I have gotten really into meditation lately. The book starts with Puddicombe’s personal journey from a university student to a Buddhist monk and then becomes an entertaining explainer on how to meditate. If you’re thinking about trying mindfulness, this is the perfect introduction.”

5. Educated, by Tara Westover (Random House).
Available on Amazon.

Bill Gates’ review: “Tara never went to school or visited a doctor until she left home at 17. I never thought I’d relate to a story about growing up in a Mormon survivalist household, but she’s such a good writer that she got me to reflect on my own life while reading about her extreme childhood. 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.”