比尔·盖茨书单适合在本年冬天阅览的五本书

编者按：本文来自微信大众号“比尔盖茨”（ID：gatesnotes），作者Bill Gates，原文标题为：“适合在本年冬天阅览的五本书”，36氪经授权发布。

As the clock ticks closer to midnight on New Year’s Eve, it’s fun to look back at what you’ve accomplished this year. December is a great time to take stock of everything you’ve done over the last twelve months --including all of the books you’ve read.

跟着时钟滴答滴答地挨近新年的午夜，回忆你在这一年里都完成了什么将是一件风趣的事。12月是最佳的时刻来盘点你在曩昔十二个月里都做了什么，包含全部你读过的书。

Because I’m a data guy, I like to look at my reading list and see if any trends emerge. This year, I picked up a bit more fiction than usual. It wasn’t a conscious decision, but I seemed to be drawn to stories that let me explore another world.

因为我是一个数据控，我喜欢调查自己的阅览清单，看能否在其中发现趋势。本年，我比以往看了更多的小说。这并不是有意为之，可是这些让我得以探究另一个国际的故事，好像令我非常入神。

Along withA Gentleman in MoscowandAn American Marriage, I readThe Friendby Sigrid Nunez (very bizarre and very good),Cloud Atlasby David Mitchell (amazingly clever but a bit hard to follow), andThe Rosie Resultby Graeme Simsion (I love this series). I even picked up a short story collection in David Foster Wallace’s Brief Interviews withHideous Men.

继《莫斯科绅士》与《美国式婚姻》之后，我读了西格丽德Ÿ努涅斯的《朋友》（既非常荒诞又非常超卓），大卫·米歇尔的《云图》（这故事美妙备至，但要跟上进展还有些难度），还有格雷姆·辛浦生的《罗西结局》（The Rosie Result，中文名暂译）（我很喜欢这套书），乃至还读了大卫·福斯特·华莱士的《男人众生相》中的一个短篇小说集。

Maybe next year’s end-of-year books post will finally include the Wallace novel I’ve been wanting to read for a while:Infinite Jest.

或许在下一年的年底书单里，我将终究录入华莱士的这本我长久以来一向想读的小说：《无尽的笑话》。

For this year’s holiday books list, I chose five titles that I think you’ll also enjoy reading. These weren’t necessarily my favorite books of the year -- but I think they’re all good choices to help wrap up your 2019 or start 2020 on a good note:

至于本年的冬天书单，我选了五本我想你们也必定会喜欢的书。这些并不必定是本年我最喜欢的书，但我觉得它们都是不错的挑选，可以在必定程度上协助你完成对2019年的总结或是很好地敞开2020年。

01An American Marriage《美国式婚姻》

By Tayari Jones /塔亚莉·琼斯【美】

An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones. My daughter Jenn recommended that I read this novel, which tells the story of a black couple in the South whose marriage gets torn apart by a horrible incident of injustice.

Jones is such a good writer that she manages to make you empathize with both of her main characters, even after one makes a difficult decision. The subject matter is heavy but thought-provoking, and I got sucked into Roy and Celestial’s tragic love story.

我女儿珍妮引荐我读这本小说，它叙述了南边一对黑人配偶的故事，他们的婚姻因一个可怕的不公正事情而决裂。琼斯是一位超卓的作家，她让你对她故事里的两位主人公都报以怜惜，即使是在其中一位做出了困难决议之后。书的主题很沉重但发人深思，它让我沉浸于罗伊与瑟蕾希尔凄惨的爱情故事中。

02These Truths《这些本相》（中文名暂译）

ByJill Lepore /吉尔·莱波雷【美】

These Truths,by Jill Lepore. Lepore has pulled off the seemingly impossible in her latest book: covering the entire history of the United States in just 800 pages.

She’s made a deliberate choice to make diverse points of view central to the narrative, and the result is the most honest and unflinching account of the American story I’ve ever read. Even if you’ve read a lot about U.S. history, I’m confident you will learn something new from These Truths.

莱波雷在她的新作里完成了看似不可能的事，用只是800页包括了整个美国前史。她做了一个审慎的挑选，将不同的观念作为中心叙事，其结果是呈现出一个我所读到过最为坦白而坚毅的美国故事。即使你读过许多关于美国前史的书，我坚信你仍将从这本书里学到一些新东西。

03Growth《添加》（中文名暂译）

ByVaclav Smil /瓦科拉夫·斯米尔【加】

Growth, by Vaclav Smil. When I first heard that one of my favorite authors was working on a new book about growth, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. (Two years ago, I wrote that I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next Star Wars movie.

I stand by that statement.) His latest doesn’t disappoint. As always, I don’t agree with everything Smil says, but he remains one of the best thinkers out there at documenting the past and seeing the big picture.

当我第一次传闻我最喜欢的作家之一正在写一本关于添加的书，我刻不容缓地想要读到它。（两年前，我写道我像一些人在等下一部《星球大战》电影相同在等斯米尔的新书。这话现在仍然有用。）他的新作没有让人绝望。和平常相同，我并不认同斯米尔所说的全部，但他仍是在记录过往和着眼全局方面最超卓的思想家之一。

04Prepared《准备好》（中文名暂译）

ByDiane Tavenner /戴安·塔文纳【美】

Prepared, by Diane Tavenner. As any parent knows, preparing your kids for life after high school is a long and sometimes difficult journey. Tavenner -- who created a network of some of the best performing schools in the nation -- has put together a helpful guidebook about how to make that process as smooth and fruitful as possible.

Along the way, she shares what she’s learned about teaching kids not just what they need to get into college, but how to live a good life.

正如任何爸爸妈妈所知道的，准备你的孩子进入高中之后的日子，这是一个绵长且有时分困难的旅程。塔文纳（她曾为国内一些成果最好的校园创建了一个联络网）整理出一部有用的攻略，辅导怎么使这一进程尽可能的顺畅和富有成效。在这本书里，她共享了自己的心得，那就是不要只教孩子能让他们考上大学的常识，而是教他们怎么过好终身的功课。

05Why We Sleep《为何需求睡觉》

ByMatthew Walker /马修·沃克【美】

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker. I read a couple of great books this year about human behavior, and this was one of the most interesting and profound. Everyone knows that a good night’s sleep is important -- but what exactly counts as a good night’s sleep? And how do you make one happen? Walker has persuaded me to change my bedtime habits to up my chances. If your New Year’s resolution is to be healthier in 2020, his advice is a good place to start.

本年我读了几本关于人类行为的好书，这本是最风趣、最深入的其中之一。人人都知道夜里睡个好觉有多么重要，可是详细什么才算好的睡觉？你怎样才能睡一个好觉呢？沃克说服了我改动睡觉习气来添加睡好觉的时机。假如你的新年希望是在2020年变得更健康，遵从沃克的主张是一个不错的开端。