Bill Gates Just Said These Are Some of His Five Favorite Books of All Time

You are what you read.

Courtesy subject. Bill Gates enjoys holiday books.

Bill Gates, the fifth richest person in the world and co-founder of Microsoft, typically posts favorite book lists seasonally and annually. But on Monday, in celebration of the holidays, he wrote, Gates released a list of (some of) his five favorite books of all time, regardless of when he read them.

“These five books are books I have recommended to family and friends over the years,” he wrote on his blog.

“I hope you find something new to read this winter,” he added. Gates' list of books, he said, includes a book he loved in middle school and one he said he had just read (Bono's memoir).

Related: Bill Gates Just Released His 5-Book Summer Reading List - Here's What's On It

He gave the books categories of sorts, which are in quotes. Here is the list:

1. "Best Introduction to Science Fiction for Adults": Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein.

Gates said he and fellow Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen "fell in love with Heinlein when we were just kids."

The book is a 1961 science fiction classic that covers Valentine Michael Smith's travels from Mars to Earth and his eventual establishment of a community of free love on a post-World War III Earth. The town has "hippie" tendencies, particularly in favor of peace.

The billionaire and philanthropist said he appreciated the predictive nature of the book.

"I think the best science fiction pushes your thinking about what's possible in the future, and Heinlein successfully predicted the rise of hippie culture years before it emerged," wrote Gates.

2. "Best Memory of a Rock Star": Surrender, Bono.

Bono is the lead singer of Irish rock band U2 and released a memoir in November with Penguin Random House.

Even if you're not a fan of the band, "it's a super fun read about how a boy from the suburbs of Dublin grew up to be a world-renowned rock star and philanthropist", a- he writes.

Even though Gates says he is friends with Bono, he hadn't heard some of the stories in the book, he added.

3. "Best Guide to Running a Country": Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is a book about Lincoln's rise to the presidency published in 2005. It won a Pulitzer Prize and inspired a film that won an Oscar, Lincoln.

Kearns Goodwin is a famous presidential historian who taught a MasterClass on American presidential history and leadership.

The book “feels especially relevant now that our country is once again facing a violent insurgency, difficult questions about race, and a deep ideological divide,” Gates wrote.

4. "The Best Guide to Getting Out of Your Own Way": The Inner Game of Tennis, Robert Gallwey.

Gates is known for his interest in self-improvement through reading.

He says this book is a "must read" for tennis fans, but anyone can learn something from it, mainly about how your body affects your mind, i.e. the "inner game", which you play with yourself. 5. "Best Book on the Periodic Table": Mendeleev's Dream, Paul Strathern.

This book, in a general way, explains how the periodic table came into existence. "It's a fascinating look at the development of science and the evolution of human curiosity over millennia," Gates wrote.