Every year, Tim Challies puts out a reading challenge. Every year, I also set a goal for myself for how many books I would like to read. This year I would like to read 40 books, and I use Mr. Challies reading challenge as a guide to expand my reading preferences. One of those genres in the challenge is to read a biography. So I chose to read the biography on Benjamin Franklin by Maria M. Higgins.

The book was to the point and didn’t drag. I read it in a couple of days and learned quiet a bit about Mr. Franklin. It was a very easy read and didn’t spend too much time with opinions and aggrandizing Mr. Franklin.

Some things I learned from the book:

Electricity has been around a lot longer than I first thought.

Mr. Franklin was the first to write about daylight savings

He never married, but had a common law wife. He really wasn’t too nice to her.

He invented the glass harmonica.

He was the first in America to print and use political cartoons to get across political views.

He had an insatiable curiosity, that was admirable.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this interesting man who lived a very fascinating life. I love his motto: “Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing. ” He certainly lived up to it.