21 books Bill Gates says you should read this summer

Bill Gates

The billionaire co-founder of Microsoft and chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reportedly reads around 50 books a year, and he chronicles his literary adventures on his blog, Gates Notes.

Gates' book recommendations have included historical accounts like Walter Isaacson's biography of Leonardo Da Vinci, poetic works of fiction like Maylis De Kerangal's "The Heart," and complex yet fascinating nonfiction works like Gretchen Bakke's "The Grid," which is all about our energy infrastructure.

Reading Gates' top picks is guaranteed to make you smarter.

The following list is culled from four years of Gates' summer reading lists and book reviews, and it's presented in no particular order.

Although Labor Day may signal the start of fall to some people, there are still a few weeks of summer — the first day of autumn isn't until September 22.

So it's not too late to enlighten yourself with these 21 Gates-approved reads:

"Everything Happens for a Reason" by Kate Bowler

Kate Bowler was diagnosed with an incurable form of colon cancer at the age of 35. In her book "Everything Happens for a Reason," Bowler takes on her diagnosis with a surprising amount of humor, which clearly had an effect on Gates.

In a blog post published May 21, he wrote:

"When Bowler, a professor at Duke Divinity School, is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, she sets out to understand why it happened. Is it a test of her character? The result is a heartbreaking, surprisingly funny memoir about faith and coming to grips with your own mortality."

"Leonardo Da Vinci" by Walter Isaacson

Gates called Leonardo da Vinci, the famous renaissance polymath, "one of the most fascinating people ever" in a blog post published in May.

That's likely why Gates recommends Walter Isaacson's painstakingly researched biography of da Vinci.

Gates writes:

"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. A worthy follow-up to Isaacson’s great biographies of Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs."

"Origin Story: A Big History of Everything" by David Christian

Gates said in a May blog post that historian David Christian's "Origin Story" will leave you with a "greater appreciation of humanity's place in the universe."

Christian teaches an online course based on the book, called Big History, which tells the story of the universe from the Big Bang through the modern era.

Gates said "Origin Story" pairs perfectly with the course as a "great refresher" of the material.

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