General Chat

Bill now lives in Norfolk ( in Wymondham) and gets very involved in local events etc, like our recent Heritage Open Days in Norwich.

LIzx

If you really want to laugh out loud try reading Bills "Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid"

My OH thought I had finally lost my marbles!

Ann

Thats nothing Karen

after reading this thread....couldn't make up my mind which was the better book to buy so I ordered a few audio cds from Amazon

I loved the bit about when he visited Rome - he turned a corner and came across a square full of parked cars - said he thought he'd just missed a parking competition for the blind!!!!!

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

K

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 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

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

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

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

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

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 .

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

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

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

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

Thunderbolt Kid is rib cracking,,,

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 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.

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

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 :))