盖茨2014年读了这五本书

    在运转着全球最大的慈善基金会和担任微软（Microsoft）技术顾问的同时，比尔•盖茨还抽出大量时间阅读各种篇幅的书籍。

    作为一个如饥似渴的读者，盖茨列出了2014年他最喜爱的书籍名单。其中有些书并不是2014年开始发售的，有些是以前出版的，有一本则尚未出版。不过，用这位拥有亿万身家的高科技专家的话说，这些书都是非常出色的读物。

    盖茨推荐的大多是商业和经济类书籍，但并非刻意而为，“托马斯•皮凯蒂在《21世纪资本论》（Capital in the Twenty-First Century）里对贫富差距给予了强烈关注，在这样的一年里读这些书是很合适的，”盖茨在自己的博客中如此写道。

    以下是盖茨在2014年末为读者推荐的5本最值得一读的书，后面还附上了他书评的节选：

    1.《商业历险记》（Business Adventures），作者约翰•布鲁克斯

    约翰•布鲁克斯的文集出版于1969年，至今仍是盖茨最爱的书籍之一。今年他重读了这本书，并盛赞这本书是“我读过的最好的商业书籍”。

    “我和巴菲特刚认识不久，他就把这本书借给了我。这本书收集了作者20世纪50至60年代在《纽约客》（New Yorker）杂志上发表的商业类文章。他和我都非常喜欢这本书。布鲁克斯的商业见解虽然年代久远，但是历久弥新。”

    2.《21世纪资本论》（Capital in the Twenty-First Century），作者托马斯•皮凯蒂

    皮凯蒂的这本著作于2013年8月上市，并在今年引发了关于收入不平等的热议。盖茨在读完这本纪实性著作后，还与作者坐在一起讨论了书中主题。

    “我告诉皮凯蒂，虽然我不完全同意书中一些次要观点和政策处方，但是我同意他最重要的结论：贫富差距是一个日趋严重的问题，各国政府应该有所作为，努力缩小贫富差距。”

    3.《亚洲如何崛起》（How Asia Works），作者乔•斯塔威尔

    斯塔威尔的这部作品出版于今年5月，主要分析了日本、台湾、南韩和中国等亚洲国家和地区是如何持续实现高速的经济增长，而其他国家又为何无法振兴经济。

    “此书关于农业的章节可谓是真知灼见，为我和我们基金会的农业团队提供了充足的精神食粮，同时也启发我们思考：是否可以将部分亚洲经济模式用于非洲。”

    In between running one of the world’s largest charitable agencies and acting as Microsoft’s technology advisor, Bill Gates manages to find a significant chunk of time to read books, both long and short.

    Now Gates — who has been labeled a voracious reader — has released a list of his favorite books of the year. Not all of them were released in 2014; some were published in past years, and one is still unreleased. All of the books, though, are standout reads, according to the billionaire techie.

    Most are focused on business and the economy. While that wasn’t necessarily intentional, “that’s fitting in a year when Thomas Piketty’s ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’ put a big spotlight on inequality,” Gates wrote on his blog.

    Here are Bill’s top five picks for 2014 (with extracts from his full review of each book).

    1. “Business Adventures,” by John Brooks

    Brooks’ collection was published in 1969 and remains one of Gates’ favorites. He re-read it again this year, labeling it the “best business book I’ve ever read.”

    “Shortly after we met, Warren Buffett loaned me this collection of New Yorker business articles from the 1950s and 1960s. I loved them as much as he did. Brooks’s insights about business have aged beautifully, and they are as true today as ever.”

    2. “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” by Thomas Piketty

    Piketty’s novel hit the shelves in August 2013 and sparked much discussion concerning income inequality throughout this year. Gates also got to sit down with Piketty after reading the non-fiction work to discuss the topic.

    “As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it.”

    3. “How Asia Works,” by Joe Studwell

    Studwell’s work, which was published in May this year, addresses how countries such as Japan, South Korea and China have continued to achieve high growth, and why other countries have failed to do the same.

    “The agriculture section of the book was particularly insightful. It provided ample food for thought for me as well as the whole Agriculture team at our foundation. And it left us thinking about whether parts of the Asian model can apply in Africa.”