Any Bill Bryson fans here?
 

I love Bill Bryson's work, its almost always funny and educational. His A walk in the woods is a classic read for anyone into hiking. his latest work is something of a strech: "A brief History of nearly everything" He took three years to look into nearly everything from an ancedotal prespective.

So far my favotite tidbit amoung many is the two guys that won the nobel prize in Physics by accidentally and unknowingly discovering background radiation from the big bang.

Any other fans out there?

I read and enjoyed his "Notes From a Small Island" which was intended to draw a line under his time in the UK.

I think he came back though! He is a big seller over here.

I'm sitting in his former office right now!

I loved Neither Here Nor There, and look forward to reading more of his.

My favorite is his book on Australia, In a Sunburned Country, and I am finally reading the last few chapters of I'm a Stranger Here Myself.

I love how he writes and I can't wait to pick up his latest book. Even if you read some of his older books, they still age well and are good reads.

I think at this point I've read almost ever book he's written except for the grammer ones on the english language. I started with a walk in the woods and found it so enjoyable that I began reading his other work. I love his wit and factioids he always tosses in. I was lucky enough to hear him read at a book signing and have also listend the the audio book version of a walk in the woods. He is a fine story teller in audio format , now having heard him a few times I acutuall read with his voice in my head as the speaker. :D

I've really become a big fan of his, although at first I wasn't -- I read some of his earlier books, like "The Lost Continent" and "I'm A Stranger Here Myself," and while I found them amusing, they had a slightly snide tone to them too, like he hadn't quite worked out the balance between being a wiseass and being a smartass :D Anyway, they weren't bad, but weren't great.

But then I picked up "In A Sunburned Country" and "A Walk In The Woods" somewhere and absolutely loved them, he really seems to have found his voice. I think he's been getting better all the time. I haven't read the science book yet, I'm waiting for QPB to have it available, but I'm looking forward to it.

I'll also really recommend his "The Mother Tongue," it's a fascinating look at the history of the English language and languages in general filled with his kind of irreverent trivia and asides -- you learn a lot and laugh as you do it, always good in my book.

'The Lost Continent' is excellent. I've read most (including the books about grammar/etymology). He's moving away from the 'travel' writing now. Check out his latest 'A short history of nearly everything' which is entertaing although it plods in parts. If you get the U.S. version I hope it doesn't have 100 pages of sources...

Resurrecting this old thread to chime in with complete agreement with some of the previous posters! :) He is something of a smartalec, but not annoyingly so, and I've read and reread and REread some of his books so many times, I know parts by heart, but they still make me laugh! :lol: I've gotten friends to read his books by retelling them stories from one book or another, because he just has a way of seeing the funny! :lol:

Like, in his "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" (adapted from a series of columns he wrote for a British newspaper, after moving back to the USA), one chapter is about him trying to find a winter sport he can do, and the pages describing his attempt to iceskate are SOOOO :rotfl: that they make me giggle just thinking about them. :lol: "In a Sunburned Country" is also HILARIOUS, just beyond description, as is "A Walk in the WOods".

One note: they're not every-page-is-hilarious funny, there's a lot of interesting information in there, great for armchair travel buffs, but with such an amusing style and amusing anecdotes, it feels more like entertainment. :)

Bryson is great. My A Walk in the Woods has traveled around my circle of friends quite a bit. I haven't read his last few, but I'll get around to it.

I love Bill Bryson. I am currently trying to find more travel books like his.

I really enjoyed "Notes From A Small Island". Been meaning to pick up some more of his stuff, since I really like the mix of humor and travel writing. He does do a great job of describing things in a humorous manner without being irritating like other writers.