What’s the one novel Bill Gates thinks you should read this summer?
It’s a well known fact that business magnate, philanthropist, and erm, very questionable husband Bill Gates loves to read. He periodically recommends books on his blog, GatesNotes, without exactly promising that reading them will make you rich, successful, and questionable, but also leaving the door open for interpretation.
The only novel on his list this season is The Overstory, by Richard Powers, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2019. “This is one of the most unusual novels I’ve read in years,” Gates writes. “The Overstory follows the lives of nine people and examines their connection with trees. Some of the characters come together over the course of the book, while others stay on their own. Even though the book takes a pretty extreme view towards the need to protect forests, I was moved by each character’s passion for their cause and finished the book eager to learn more about trees.”
Not a bad choice. (And his nonfiction picks aren’t bad either.) But I have to wonder what Melinda is reading this summer . . .
