The Pursuit Monthly - April 2025
Wrapping up my time with Franklin. Next up, The First
The warmth of spring may be here, but that hasn’t stopped the maladies of late winter from lingering on in our household. With two little ones this has made the time to read (let alone write) around the edges a bit trickier over the past month or so.
But everything is a season, and the main thing is simply to stick with it. The reading may not be as prolific (or as impactful) as you’d like, but the pendulum - or in this case, the seasons - will swing back, so long as you’re still in the pocket to take advantage of it. Keep your butt in the seat.
[Now the question of exactly how to take advantage is something I am very much still grappling with, particularly as it comes to my ability to find time to write, but that is a topic for another day].
So without further ado, let’s jump into the reading list.
The April 2025 Reading List
Book of Ages by Jill Lepore
My dive into Benjamin Franklin continued with this tangential read by Harvard historian Jill Lepore focused on his younger sister, Jane. Perhaps surprisingly, we know very little about Jane; very few of her letters survived as through time people essentially didn’t think her very important to the historical record. But that is exactly the thread Jill pulls at with this book, and given the dearth of material it’s an admirable effort. By default the book has to focus a good deal on Franklin as her writings mostly only survive through him, but Jill is able to extrapolate this into a sublime meditation on why certain things survive, how the historical record is passed on to us and who decides who is worth remembering. There is a lot packed into what is really a fairly short read, but there is a lot here to continue exploring off of. The notes and Appendix section is excellent.
- Net Rating = 5.0/5
Ben & Me by Eric Weiner
My final Franklin book, and my second time with one of Weiner’s books, who I must admit I have a complicated view of. I don’t always love the writing style, but Eric does a great job of approaching history and philosophy in a conversational (dare I say poppy?) tone that still hints at sufficient depth lurking just beneath the surface (his Socrates Express helped me work through a really knotty personal decision). The tone continues straight into Ben & Me, but Weiner does an excellent job at conveying Franklin’s many philosophical outlooks and insights in an accessible manner that not many books in this same biography-lite genre are able to pull off (see below). If 800 page doorstoppers aren’t your thing, this is an excellent spot to dip your toes into the wisdom and insights of Benjamin Franklin.
- Net Rating = 4.0/5
You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe
Next after Franklin in my Founding Father’s deep dive is Washington. I’ve been slowly working my way through Chernow’s Washington epic, more from a lack of time than interest. So on a recent family trip - featuring first flights for our youngest - I opted for lighter fare, hoping for something akin to the Franklin reads above. Disappointingly this was not to be. There is little insight into Washington’s character or outlook, with Coe instead sticking to the where/what form of history with a few fun facts like the names of his dogs sprinkled in. Ironically, Coe starts the book by lamenting how modern biographies are too dense and dry, yet that is largely how this one serves up. Even the humor teased on the cover (don’t judge a book…) is largely missing. There are a few unique insights and alternative interpretations that make comparisons with Chernow’s work interesting, but I certainly wouldn’t elevate it over other biographies on the market.
- Net Rating = 3.0/5
Other Reading
To mix things up outside my 2025 reading plan I squeezed in a couple unrelated books. I found The Opposite of Spoiled to be fine, with some good insights into tactical tips and tricks on how to introduce the topic of money to your kids, but a bit in the vein of this could have been an article. I also try every year to read a Kentucky-oriented book in the run-up to the Kentucky Derby, and this year’s pick was the audiobook version of Emily Bingham’s My Old Kentucky Home. I also decided to put my read-through of the Bible on pause, at least until my Founders reading pace gets back on track.
For the rest of the family, my son and I finished our latest installment of the Narnia books with The Horse and His Boy. It’s funny, I have no memory of this one from reading as a kid, though I know I read the series several times. This is maybe for good reason, as for both of us this was easily our least favorite of the books so far - more spin-off vibes than core chronicle. Other hits included Things That Go again (a daily read at this point), some selections of the Good Night board book series, and - admittedly a surprise - this kids version of the Bible. You truly never know what will resonate.
I love to track my reading. It’s not the point, but it can be a great motivator when time gets tight. There are few things more important than our self-education. So here are some stats from the month and year-to-date:
April Reading Stats:
Books Completed = 2
Total Pages Read = 1,112
Pages per Day = 37
Avg. Daily Reading Time = 1.03 hrs
Avg. Score (out of 5) = 3.0
2025 YTD Stats:
Books Completed = 10
Total Pages Read = 5,246
Pages per Day = 43
Avg. Daily Reading Time = 1.45 hrs
Avg. Score (out of 5) = 4.0
If you’ve read any of the books above, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them in the comments below! And if you liked what you saw and aren’t subscribed yet, hit the button below to get future editions directly in your inbox!
Time is (very) short. Thank you for yours today.
Until next time,
David