Competition for “favorite book of the month” honors wasn’t quite fair this time. Somehow I’d waited to read Ron Chernow’s Hamilton, which it turns out, is an outstanding book. The author’s meticulous research, combined with the evident zeal with which he engages the subject and his approachable writing, make Chernow’s bestseller, which was also the inspiration for the hit musical Hamilton, a biography I recommend you read. In fact, the book prompted me to rethink everything I’d previously been taught regarding the various Founding Fathers’ roles forming our country.
Six other books graced my reading list this past month:
- Roberto Bolaño’s The Spirit of Science Fiction
- Wendell Berry’s Entries
- Karl Ove Knaugård’s Spring
- A. R. Ammons’ Tape for the Turn of the Year
- Adam Higginbotham’s Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster
- Karen Russell’s Swamplandia!
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 37 books read so far this year.
Erik Eckel 
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