General Chat

Anyone read his books? They are actually books on travel, but they are soooo funny. I'm reading Notes from a Small Island, about his impressions of England. I was giggling all the time I was reading it last night.

I laughed out loud when I read that one, which is OK but some of the time I was on the bus to and from work!

I've read most of them and they are great reads!

Jill

I too love his books. He read 'Notes from a small Island' on radio 4 once - superb!
Particularly like the anecdote about when he was living in Yorkshire, where the postman would just walk in the back door & leave the letters on the kitchen table.
Bill was doing the dishes, back to the table.
He was dancing around and lifted his leg to 'let one off'. Then he turned around to see the post on the table................

I was really chuckling at his description of the men in the pub giving him directions from Surrey to Cornwall LOL. Made me think of my dad, he would describe every lay-by, loose stone and discarded matchstick on any road in the UK. We dare not ask for directions.

Love the landlady in Dover too...LOL

Teresa , I have read most of his books, Notes from a small Island is probably my favourite, it makes me shake with laughter , particularly the bit where he is in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog as they were just up the road from where I lived last year :))

Hi TW, We've not "spoken before, so hello,

I've read that book, and yes it's hilarious. If you are enjoying that, you must also read......
"A Walk In The Woods"
and
" Notes From A Big Country"

equally funny........enjoy

Tec

I am definitely going to read the rest now. I had to force myself to put it down last night.

Definitely a page-turner, not for the suspense, but the humour! Brilliant.

I never read Bill Bryson in bed. OH gets really annoyed when I wake him up laughing in the middle of the night. The same goes for 'Diary of a Nobody'

I'm a Stranger Here Myself,,,,,,,,is a must,,,,,:}}}}}}

Thunderbolt Kid is rib cracking,,,

HE WRITES IN SUCH A WAY YOU FEEL AS IF YOUR THERE
WHEN I WORKED IN A LIBRARY HE HAD A HUGE FOLLOWING,
I REALY ENJOYED HIS BOOKS

think I've read them all - hysterical!!!

Me too. And .......Bill Bryson is the Chancellor of Durham University, so he's an adopted-relative.

If you like these books, you'll probably also enjoy Stuart Maconie (yes, he was a radio DJ)'s Pies and Prejudice.

Sue x

Different , but still very much worth reading is his " A short history of nearly everything" , it's described as 'popular science' but is really accessible .

Oh you must try and get hold of his book - Neither Here Nor There, I think it was the first or second one he wrote, absolutely brilliant, his best!

You definitely won't get to sleep if you read that one in bed lol.

Mary

Sue I read that a few weeks ago and did enjoy it :)

Like Mrs Grumpy (etc) plus her numbers, I too read some of Notes from a Small Island on the bus. I started to laugh out loud and had to put the book down and after gaining composure started again only to giggle. Got some very strange looks. I also owned a secondhand bookstore at the time and whenever I sold his books I advised my customers not to read them on the bus.

Pərsə

He's a really funny bloke.
I laughed hysterically through "Neither here nor there" and probably annoyed everyone around me. I found it hilariously funny, not least because it reminded me so much of the time I backpacked my way around Europe - in my yoof.

One of the funniest chapters was the time he got a long distance bus up to Finland - a nightmare journey in itself, eventually arriving, days later, in what he described as the most boring place on earth, or in his own words, 'where the f ?'. The village yoof's Saturday night entertainment was setting fire to the phone books in the town's phone boxes!! He decided to leave the next day - only to discover that the next bus out of there was a week later!!!!

K

Oh Karen!! I've just spluttered tea all over my keyboard, I'd forgotten that bit! LOL. I love all of his books, but for me that one is deffo the best.

I'm going to have to go and dig my book out to read it again now, lol.

Mary

I have no idea why it has taken me so long to get round to reading any of his books, but I'll certainly catch up s much as I can now. Well worth it.

Even funnier is that he is American, and they don't usually 'get' irony. But he's brilliant.

Oh dear, reading through all these posts - makes me want to go and re-read his books again too!!! LOL

K