
Bill Gates: The Billionaire Book Critic - ingve
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/fashion/bill-gates-the-billionaire-book-critic.html
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henrik_w
I love reading, but read 20 or max 25 per year. So what I do read I want to be
really good. That's why I like lists like Bill Gates' (and the subsequent
discussions on HN) - they help in finding the gems to read.

I also like writing reviews of what I read (mostly on Amazon [1]). Writing the
review helps me remember and understand the contents better - so it benefits
me. At the same time, I think it helps other people decide if they want to
read the book for themselves. If not, then they got what I considered most
important from my review.

[1] On Amazon: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-
reviews/A1CG7W9QANKGOB/](http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-
reviews/A1CG7W9QANKGOB/) but occasionally also on my blog, like what I
recently wrote about Ghost in the Wire by Kevin Mitnick
[http://henrikwarne.com/2015/12/27/social-engineering-from-
ke...](http://henrikwarne.com/2015/12/27/social-engineering-from-kevin-
mitnick/)

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RodericDay
> Mr. Gates says he reads about 50 books in a year, eschewing digital readers
> for old-fashioned books on paper. When he is busy with work, he reads about
> a book or two a week but will consume four or five in the same period while
> vacationing with family.

huh?

~~~
Luc
Work: 1 to 2 per week

Vacation with family: 4 to 5 per week

Other: zero to x per week

Total: 50 per year

~~~
savanaly
What is a week other than work or vacation? Those account for all days of the
year, by tautology if nothing else. (except for the unemployed, I suppose, but
him being retired I would think it's impossible to be unemployed).

~~~
jessaustin
This is why the Europeans make fun of us. b^)

~~~
icebraining
As an European, I can't say I get it either.

------
Tomte
I really enjoy his reviews. He gives perspective why the book at hand is
relevant, and succeeds in telling me what to expect from it, not only in terms
of content, but often also style.

I haven't read many of his recommended books, but quite a few have are on my
Amazon wishlist for later buying.

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bcx
For those doubting whether Bill actually writes the reviews you should take a
look at: [https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books](https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books).

Of the many books Bill has read, 81/195 have reviews (approximate). Given that
he's reading on the order of 50 books a year, let's assume he's been at this
for 4 years. That would be about 20 book reviews a year, and each book review
on average probably takes him an hour or two to write, get feedback, and
revise. (They are not really that involved:
[https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/XKCD](https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/XKCD))

Seems like it is totally doable, and would not even really take up that much
time.

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sandworm101
Does anyone believe Gates is personally authoring this list?

I've worked with a few celebs over the years. Be them CEOs or models, they all
have "people" to handling this stuff. I wouldn't be surprised to hear gates
reads none of these books, that the entire scheme is handled by his PR. Worse
yet, many extremely wealthy people believe "they" create things when they in
fact pay others to do the real work. I'd need lots more evidence before I'd
believe that someone like Gates is actually typing the words.

But even if he is reading these books, there is this from the OP:

"“‘We don’t have any say over what Bill chooses,’” she said “‘We just leave it
on his desk and he reads what he wants to read.’” Ms. Kim lucked out"

They "don't have any say" except that they appear to be able to shortlist
books. Getting your book onto the desk of a reviewer is 90+% of the effort
needed to secure a review. The ability to place anything on the desk of a
billionaire is the sort of influence for which people pay good money.

~~~
justin66
> I've worked with a few celebs over the years. Be them CEOs or models, they
> all have "people" to handling this stuff.

How many of them were largely self-taught engineers who made tens of billions
of dollars and then started methodically giving all that money away? (at least
then the comparison would be interesting)

It really is not much of a stretch to assume that Bill Gates is an outlier.

~~~
sandworm101
Wealth brings "people". Even recluse billionaires have people, law firms, to
manage their public images. It isn't personal. When you have billions to
protect you need a team.

~~~
justin66
I think you're very badly missing the point. Reading is how someone like Gates
becomes Gates and stays Gates. This particular set of tasks we're talking
about is exactly the sort of thing he wouldn't necessarily want or need to
outsource.

