Tech pioneer, cofounder of Microsoft, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and author Bill Gates is an avid reader who has become known for his excellent book recommendations. As the year wraps up, he's sharing some of his favorite books of 2019.Get Bill's book recommendations throughout the year and see all the other books on his shelf by following him here

As the clock ticks closer to midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s fun to look back at what you’ve accomplished this year. December is a great time to take stock of everything you’ve done over the last 12 months—including all of the books you’ve read.Because I’m a data guy, I like to look at my reading list and see if any trends emerge. This year, I picked up a bit more fiction than usual. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I seemed to be drawn to stories that let me explore another world.I’m currently trying to finish Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell before the end of the year (it’s amazingly clever but a bit hard to follow). Along with A Gentleman in Moscow and An American Marriage , I finished The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion (I love this series) and even picked up a short story collection in David Foster Wallace ’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men Maybe next year’s end-of-year books post will finally include the Wallace novel I’ve been wanting to read for a while: Infinite Jest For this year’s holiday books list, I chose five titles that I think you’ll also enjoy reading. I think they’re all solid choices to help wrap up your 2019 or start 2020 on a good note: