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.A Short History of Nearly Everything

by: Bill Bryson

June 01, 2004
Well I love a good Bill Bryson book and this is surely the best. As a travel writer he has kept me interested and amused with many an exciting journey but this rates as the best journey he has ever written. A journey that takes the layman on a travel experience spanning billions of years including an insight into all the sciences and ologies one can imagine. If only I had been able to read science at school like this...I might well have found an interest.
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.Shakespeare: The World as a Stage (Eminent Lives)

by: Bill Bryson

April 01, 2008
A neat little book exploring what little we know about Shakespeare's life. Bryson hasn't had the easiest of tasks, trying to work a coherent life out of such scant information and vague references to Shakespeare during his lifetime, and all in all he's done well.

It starts a little dry, and the small details get a bit overwhelming - but then, there is little emotive material to work with so detail is there is to offer. Where Bryson excels is in fleshing out these patchy details with other interesting information about the theatrical conventions of the time, life in Stratford and London, and other literary types who surrounded Shakespeare. In doing so he turns this into a much more interesting biography than it would otherwise have ... Read More:
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.Mother Tongue: The English Language

by: Bill Bryson

September 26, 1991
I liked this book. It is written with Bryson's usual witty and engaging style. It is a book that is absolutely of the high standard any reader of Bryson's previous books will have come to expect.

Having said that, this book is certainly not for everyone, even if you have thoroughly enjoyed many of Bryson's previous offerings. I have an amateur's interest in language and this book provided me with an informative introduction to its history and quirky nature. If you are not interested in the subject I think you will probably find this book very dull indeed.

There are some downsides to bare in mind, even for those with an avid interest. Firstly, it contains lots of list of words in the text which can be tedious, to the point where I was skipping ... Read More:
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.Notes from a Small Island

by: Bill Bryson

August 01, 1996
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!
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.Down Under

by: Bill Bryson

August 06, 2001
I must be honest and say that I started this book in tandem with another just because I didn't think I'd be terribly interested in the subject matter, much as I love Bryson. By the end of the second chapter, I wanted to book a ticket on the next flight to Perth. The flora, fauna and folks that inhabit this wondrous country intrigue me strangely.

Bill Bryson is one of the funniest writers I have ever encountered. I find myself reading bits aloud at the slightest hint of encouragement. I challenge anyone to read his discussion of running through a park trying to get away from some scary dogs, and ending up in an unsuspecting housewife's back garden, without laughing out loud. If you can get through that section without giggling, you have nerves of steel.
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.Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe

by: Bill Bryson

April 02, 1998
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was written in 1990, first published in 1992 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of some of the major cities of Europe, many of those mentioned which I have visited myself during the last forty years. Of those that I have not I think that Sofia in particular may well have changed beyond recognition, Eastern Europe having undergone the most changes in the last eighteen years.
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some aspects it can seem very dated.
Certainly worth reading ... Read More:
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.A Short History of Nearly Everything

by: Bill Bryson

October 28, 2003
Well I love a good Bill Bryson book and this is surely the best. As a travel writer he has kept me interested and amused with many an exciting journey but this rates as the best journey he has ever written. A journey that takes the layman on a travel experience spanning billions of years including an insight into all the sciences and ologies one can imagine. If only I had been able to read science at school like this...I might well have found an interest.
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.The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

by: Bill Bryson

June 04, 2007
"The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" is a gem of a book in which Bill Bryson takes us back to when he was a young boy in 1950s America. These memories are fond and poignant, as well as laced with a dose of Bill's trademark wit. Against the backdrop of the trends, commercialism and politics taking place in America at the time, he discusses his family and some of his childhood friends, relating the exploits he shared with each. He also talks about his curiosity of then in members of the opposite sex, about day-trips, boring toys, comic books, school days, a beer heist and other topics, all in a way only he and no-one else could describe them.

I really enjoyed the book, just as much as I enjoy his travel writing. The final chapter, "Farewell", was one of my favourites, in which he relates ... Read More:
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.Troublesome Words

by: Bill Bryson

September 26, 2002
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.
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.The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America

by: Bill Bryson

January 02, 1999
I think you either dig Bryson or you don't. This was the second book of his I read (first was Neither Here nor There). A year or so after I read the book I got this (on tape) to hear on holiday, and began listening in the departure lounge at LHR. Basically my wife had to virtually throw a fire-bucket over me since I was apparently making a spectacle of myself. Kerry Shale's rapid-fire delivery really makes this a great (if exhausting) listen. Even though I've heard it many times (and have attempted to mimic parts of it to friends a thousand times) I still don't get tired of hearing it. If the weather's crap and there's nothing on TV this is hard to beat for sheer pants-wettingly funny listening. The best bits are Kerry Shale's take on the Southern accent: "Can I HEP you?" "Ha doo lack Miss Hippy?" [you're going to need to buy it ... Read More:
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