The Christmas offers the opportunity to give readings as gifts that promote reflection and understanding of the world, according to the Bill Gates Annual RecommendationsCo-founder of Microsoft and global philanthropist.
Each year, Gates selects books that “contribute to the understanding of complex phenomena,” according to his blog Kirkus Reviews. For 2025, her summer list focuses on memories that influenced her own autobiography, while her vacation list focuses on practical topics like weather and communication.
1. Personal story
Personal story, by Katharine Graham (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1998), talks about her career as an editor of The Washington PostTtakes charge after family tragedies and faces crises like Watergate. Gates emphasizes his reminder that exceptional leaders emerge from unexpected places.
Authoritarians don’t like that
The practice of professional and critical journalism is a mainstay of democracy. That is why it bothers those who believe that they are the owners of the truth.
Approximate Price: $28,000. Available at El Ateneo Grand Splendid and Cúspide Corrientes in the city of Buenos Aires.
2. Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life
Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life, by Nicholas Kristoff (two-time Pulitzer Prize winner), details his career and reports on wars and poverty in more than 150 countriesmaintaining optimism in the face of adversity. Gates says his work changed the course of his philanthropic life.
Approximate Price: $30,000. In Cúspide Palermo and El Ateneo Santa Fe.
3. Educated
Formed, by Tara Westover (international bestseller), tells of his escape from a Mormon survivor family in Idaho toward college education and a doctorate in Cambridge. Gates highlights how he captures the process of self-discovery by recognizing parental limitations.
The Cóndor Awards celebrate their 25th anniversary and present a new format to honor Cordoba athletes
Approximate Price: $25,000. In El Ateneo and Cúspide Recoleta.
4. Born to Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
Born to Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah (Emmy winner for comedy), explores his mixed-race childhood under South African apartheidwith humor to overcome boundaries. Gates praises his outsider perspective on comedy.
Approximate Price: $24,000. Available from Cúspide and El Ateneo Grand Splendid.
5. Surrender: 40 songs, one story
Surrender: 40 songs, one story, by binding (leader of U2), structures his life through 40 songs, revealing vulnerabilities and struggles with parental care. Gates sees it as a model of emotional openness for his own memoirs.
Approximate Price: $32,000. Available at Ateneo Santa Fe and Cúspide Centro bookstores.
6. Remarkably bright creatures
Remarkably bright creatures, from Shelby Van Pelt (bestseller), is a novel about Tova, A 70-year-old woman who finds meaning in cleaning an aquarium and bond with an intelligent octopus. Gates appreciates how you approach the challenge of filling the days after work.
Saint Damasus I, the Pope who consolidated apostolic memory and renewed the early Church
Approximate Price: $26,000. Available in Cúspide and El Ateneo bookstores.
7. Clean the air
Clearing the Air, by Hannah Ritchie, answers 50 key questions about climate change with optimistic data about progress in renewable energy and innovation. Gates sees this as a clear and hopeful explanation of the climate challenge.
Approximate Price: $29,000. Available at El Ateneo Grand Splendid and Cúspide Palermo.
8. Who knew
Who knew about Barry Dilleris a treatise about him Career innovation on television and the Internetfrom miniseries to channels like Fox. Gates highlights his visionary efforts that have transformed industries.
Approximate Price: $27,000. Available at Cúspide Recoleta and El Ateneo bookstores.
9. When everyone knows that everyone knows
When everyone knows that everyone knows about Steven Pinker, explains how “common knowledge” facilitates social coordination through indirect signals. Gates notes that it illuminates everyday interactions.
Approximate Price: $23,000. Available at El Ateneo and Cúspide Corrientes bookstores.
10. Abundance
abundance, of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, analyzes why the US is having difficulty building infrastructure and proposes systems for disseminating innovative ideas. Gates sees parallels with his work on health and climate.
Approximate Price: $31,000. Available from Cúspide and El Ateneo Grand Splendid.
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