Bill Gates (with 5 adorable puppies) unveils his summer book list

Bill Gates is many things. A tech mogul, innovative genius, philanthropist, avid reader and apparently he is also obsessed with puppies The last one is very true as on his blog, GatesNotes, he recommends five books for your summer reading pleasure using a variety of puppies to reenact the plots.

But though he uses the cutest of creatures he writes, “When I pulled together this list of five that you might enjoy this summer, I realized that several of my choices wrestle with big questions. What makes a genius tick? Why do bad things happen to good people? Where does humanity come from, and where are we headed?”

Here are his five recommended books for summer 2018 and watch the video with adorable puppies below.

1. Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson

Gates said he has always been fascinated by da Vinci and his wide range of interests and there is no better biographer than Isaacson. “Isaacson also does a great job of explaining why Leonardo’s work is so revered. Unless you’re an art historian, you might even wonder if paintings like the Mona Lisa are famous just for being famous. But Walter shows how Leonardo’s genius is in the details,” writes Gates.

2. Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, by Kate Bowler.

Gates goes a little dark with his next pick. The book centers around Bowler, a professor, who is diagnosed with colon cancer and wants to understand why and how to deal with this death sentence. “The central questions in this book really resonated with me. On one hand, it’s nihilistic to think that every outcome is simply random. I have to believe that the world is better when we act morally, and that people who do good things deserve a somewhat better fate on average than those who don’t,” he writes. Gates finds it to be a surprisingly funny memoir.

RELATED: Check out Bill Gates top summer reads from 2017:

3. Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders

Another book about Lincoln, but this one is particularly interesting as it blends together fact and fiction. Gates writes, “It’s basically a long conversation among 166 ghosts, including Lincoln’s deceased son. I got new insight into the way Lincoln must have been crushed by the weight of both grief and responsibility.”

4. Origin Story: A Big History of Everything, by David Christian

Gates is a big fan of Christian, saying his course, Big History, is one of his all-time favorites. He labels this book as being a great introduction to the course. “Understanding where humanity comes from is crucial to shaping where we go next. Origin Story is an up-to-date history of everything that will leave you with a greater appreciation of our place in the universe.”

5. Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund

Gates says this is a fascinating read by the famous global health lecturer. “The bulk of the book is devoted to ten instincts that keep us from seeing the world factfully. These range from the fear instinct (we pay more attention to scary things) to the size instinct (standalone numbers often look more impressive than they really are) to the gap instinct (most people fall between two extremes,” writes Gates. The French Bulldog puppy also made this book look particularly interesting.

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