5 Good Books Bill Gates recommends for a disastrous year by all accounts

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander. 

Like many white people, I have tried to deepen my understanding of systemic racism over the past few months. Alexander's book offers insightful insight into how the criminal justice system acts unfairly against communities of color and black communities in particular. It is particularly effective in explaining the history and figures of mass incarceration. I was familiar with some of the data, but Alexander really helps put it in context. I finished the book more convinced than ever that we need a fairer approach to sentencing and more investment in communities of color..... Learn more

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein. 

I started following Epstein's work after watching his amazing 2014 TED talk on athletic performance. In this fascinating book, she argues that while the world seems to be demanding more and more specialization, in her career, for example, we actually need more people "who are starting out broadly and adopting different experiences and perspectives as they go. as they go on. ”His examples range from Roger Federer to Charles Darwin to Soviet affairs experts in the Cold War era. I think his insights even help explain some of Microsoft's successes when we hired people who had real breadth. in your space and across the board If you are a general practitioner who has felt overshadowed by your peers before, this book is for you.... Learn more

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, by Erik Larson.

 Sometimes history books feel more relevant than their authors might have imagined. Such is the case with that brilliant report from 1940 and 1941 when English citizens spent almost every night in basements and underground stations when Germany tried to bombard them through submission. The anxiety and fear they felt, while much more severe than what we experienced with COVID-19, sounded familiar to me. Larson gives you a vivid glimpse into the life of the average person during those dire times, and he does a great job of profiling some of the British leaders who guided them through the crisis, including Winston Churchill and his close advisers. It's too limited in scope to be the only book I've ever read about WWII, but it's a great addition to the literature that focuses on that tragic moment.... Learn more

The Spy and the Traitor:The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Macintyre.

This non-fictional report focuses on Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB officer turned double agent for the British, and Aldrich Ames, the American setback who likely betrayed him. Macintyre's account of his stories comes not only from Western sources (including Gordievsky himself) but also from a Russian perspective. It is as exciting as my favorite spy novels... Learn more

Breath from Salt: A Deadly Genetic Disease, a New Era in Science, and the Patients and Families Who Changed Medicine, by Bijal P. Trivedi.

This book is really uplifting. It documents a story of remarkable scientific innovation and how it has improved the lives of nearly all cystic fibrosis patients and their families. This story is particularly meaningful to me because I know families who have benefited from the new medications described in this book. I suspect we will see many more books like this in the years to come as biomedical miracles roll out of the labs faster and faster....Learn more