“Although I’m lucky that I get to meet with a lot of interesting people and visit fascinating places through my work, I still think books are the best way to explore new topics that interest you,” Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates wrote Monday.

Gates suggested a variety of books, including memoirs and novels.

Here are the best of the books Bill Gates read this year:

• The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond
• Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens, by Eddie Izzard
• The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• Energy and Civilization, A History, by Vaclav Smil