"If you want to read just one book about malaria, The Fever is probably the best choice. Author Sonia Shah doesn’t overwhelm you with data and analytics, but she does cover the whole history of the disease, which—as the title suggests—goes back further than you might think. The book was published in 2010, so it’s not totally up to date (most notably, we’ve made progress with rolling out bed nets since then). But it’s a great overview of malaria, its impact, and the solutions to it."

"Bill Foege is one of my heroes. Among his many accomplishments, he was instrumental in ridding the world of smallpox, which is still the only human disease ever eradicated. This book gives you a great view from the front lines of that battle. Bill was a mentor to Melinda and me in the early days of our philanthropy, and he continues to give us great advice today. I also recommend his deeply moving Gates Notes article about fighting river blindness. It’s a fantastic story that gives you real insight into how he thinks about his work."

"One of my favorite YA novels. The dystopian society was so well planned out, removing the passions of our world such as poetry and music to lend the support to an existence without pure love. The main character, Lena Halloway, had such a great voice, perfect for a teen narrative, and her interactions with all the Cureds (those who have been saved from the disease, ""amor deliria nervosa"") just grew more and more fascinating with each page. "Love; the deadliest of all deadly things. It kills you both when you have it and when you don't.""