Microsoft MSFT, -0.06% founder-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates calls it “one of the best books I’ve ever read,” saying it offers a breakthrough way to see how life is getting better and where it still needs to improve.
Count Barack Obama a big fan, as well.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the former president listed five books he’s been reading this summer, including the Gates fave, “Factfulness,” by Hans Rosling.
Obama described it as “a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases.”
“One of my favorite parts of summer is deciding what to read when things slow down just a bit. Whether it’s on a vacation with family or just a quiet afternoon,” Obama wrote in his widely shared post. “This summer I’ve been absorbed by new novels, revisited an old classic, and reaffirmed my faith in our ability to move forward together when we seek the truth.”
Here are the other books he mentioned:
“Educated,” by Tara Westover: “A remarkable memoir of a young woman raised in a survivalist family in Idaho who strives for education while still showing great understanding and love for the world she leaves behind.”
“Warlight” by Michael Ondaatje: “A meditation on the lingering effects of war on family.”
“A House for Mr Biswas,” by V.S. Naipaul: “The Nobel Prize winner’s first great novel about growing up in Trinidad and the challenge of post-colonial identity.”
“An American Marriage,” by Tayari Jones: “A moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.”
