Bill Gates thinks you should read these 5 books this summer to get smarter on the climate, political polarization and gender equality

In this speculative fiction novel, Alderman explores gender roles and gender inequality by writing about a world in which young women suddenly gain the ability to shoot deadly electrical jolts from their hands, coming to wield more power, literally and figuratively, than men.

Gates says the book was a recommendation from his daughter, Jenn.

"I gained a stronger and more visceral sense of the abuse and injustice many women experience today," he said of the novel in his blog post. "And I expanded my appreciation for the people who work on these issues in the U.S. and around the world."

In this book, Klein argues that the political system in the US has became polarized around identity to dangerous effect.

"The book is fundamentally about American politics, but it's also a fascinating look at human psychology," Gates wrote.

This novel, set in the 1950s, follows an 18-year-old just released from a juvenile work farm in Nebraska as his plan to take his eight-year-old brother to California to start a new life is unexpectedly thwarted by two other teenagers he met at the facility.

"Towles takes inspiration from famous hero's journeys and seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might hope," Gates wrote of this book.

This novel focuses on the climate crisis through "fictional eyewitness accounts" of how climate change will affect humanity in the near future.

"It's so complex that it's hard to summarize, but Robinson presents a stimulating and engaging story, spanning decades and continents, packed with fascinating ideas and people," Gates wrote.

This book goes into depth on several fundamental forces of our modern world, including matters like energy production and globalization.

"If you want a brief but thorough education in numeric thinking about many of the fundamental forces that shape human life, this is the book to read," Gates said of this book.