The Bill Bryson Appreciation Club - Discuss your favourites here (spoilers)

I love Bill Bryson, I could happily re-read any of his books! I get to learn things and laugh at the same time 😊

Downunder has a soft spot in my heart.

Many years ago I was in Denver for work and I went to hear a reading from it by the good man himself (it must have been a promotional tour just after it was published). One of the bits he read was about driving across the outback listening to cricket on the radio. It had me laughing hysterically. But no one else in the room got it. When I went up to get my book signed he remembered me and commented that I couldn't be from around here which lead to an interesting conversation...

I think that my favourite of all is Mother Tongue though.

I think A Brief History of Everything is an amazing book. A very good, informative read.

I loved "Home". Fascinating and funny. My favourite bit is his description of Queen Anne being "jumbo sized". I'd forgotten that bit and laughed like a loon walking home in the dark whilst listening to the audiobook.

By the way, just googled and he's only 64.

Loved his book on Shakespeare. Ridiculed all those preposterous theories that have emerged thro'' the years and explained the First Folios. Sounds dull but is definitely not. Loved it. Couldn't go wrong in his hands.

(Def spoilers ahead of new book)

I love, love, loved the Walk in the Woods book. It really made me chuckle. As have all his books really. I do love how he roundly insults people and often wonder if any of the people he derides have ever read his books and recognised an element of themselves in them.

I am surprised that someone upthread said they haven't found any laugh out loud bits in the newest book. I haven't re-read any of his other books before reading this one, but am finding it very funny. He seems more.... cranky I suppose. There's that juxtaposition that he does so well of a standard descriptive sentence, then suddenly a wry dig at someone who has annoyed him or a juicy swear word that you don't expect. I proper laughed out loud when he wrote about Torquay, after failing to be able to buy watch batteries...
"I quite like Torquay and might one day come back, but I can tell you this now; as far as watch batteries are concerned, they can go fuck themselves."

He's very clever with his language. I liked "At one end was an old fashioned shop, Allison's, where you could buy the types of clothes your grandparents liked to wear. and beyond it, a selection of charity shops where you could buy the actual clothes that your grandparents wore'

I love the idea that there could be spoilers in Bill Bryson.

Like what? He doesn't actually walk all of the Appalachian Trail?

The Thunderbolt Kid kept me laughing all the way from Heathrow to LA a few years ago. I love Bill Bryson's books. I think the only one of his books I haven't read is his Short History of Nearly Everything, but it's on the bookshelves, so I can read it any time I want.

I love Bill Bryson's books too, my favourite is Walk in the Woods - it made me want to go hiking (almost) also loved the Lost Continent and Home. My husband has only ever finished 2 books (in 15 years) one of the was Walk in the Woods - now that's a recommendation!

I've just read Little Dribbling. I really enjoyed it but not as much as Notes from a Small Island. BB says something lovely about where I live in that one .

I love A Walk in the Woods, and really hope Katz is still ok. I can't read it in public, it makes me laugh too much. I also love Mother Tongue and often dip into it.

Hmm, will have to do some re-reading.

I liked the Shakespeare one, but it was a bit thin IYKWIM

I downloaded the Shakespeare one today, it's £1.99 on Kindle at the moment.

Is anyone watching Bake Off Creme de la Creme? It's filmed at Wellbeck Abbey, I would never havd heard of it if it wasn't for the memorable tale of Bill Bryson trying to visit it and finding it in the hands of the MOD.

I think Walk In The Woods is my favourite, I really hope Katz is as funny in real life as he is written down. I did see the film, it was ok, made me laugh and they did stay pretty much to the story, if shortened a little.

Notes from A Small Island is the first one I read, and I re-read it at least once a year. He was right about Oxford, and I loved in Little Dribbling that he mentioned the Wardens Lodge again.

this is my favourite Bill Bryson book by far

Some of the chapters are tear inducingly funny.

Just finished Home and loved it - fascinating fact on every page.

I love the books he wrote about language. I haven't read the Shakespeare one though it has been on my kindle for a while. I haven't finished the house one either.

Thurlow
I mentioned it upthread!!!
Love it
Wasn't massively keen on 1927 either

I love BB - I am very lucky that I have had them bought for me over many Christmas's
Notes and Down Under are my favourite, and I really enjoyed Short History.
I must admit that 1927 was my least favourite, just down to not being the least bit interested in baseball figures on Babe Ruth - pages and pages of it it seemed.
I really love a little book of his from before he became famous as a writer. Its called 'Bizarre World' - a bit like the collection of interesting things he kept on bits of paper in the basement

I love Bill Bryson! I'm constantly amazed that he can write so well about so many different subjects - travel, science, language, Shakespeare, history. I've always enjoyed his books although his travel ones are my favourites.

I don't think I've read that one, somehow it doesn't really appeal.

Notes is the funniest by far - the tax returns, the moose, the computer helpdesk. There's one chapter where he is trying to get the Christmas decorations out of the loft and is stuck, hanging from the hatch, for hours with no one hearing his cries, I remember that having me in tears of laughter.

I cannot believe noone has mentioned A Short History of Nearly Everything. I must have read it 5 or 6 times now. It has honestly taught me all the science I know. I love his glee at discovering yet another way we might all die a horrible and grisly death

Its his turn of phrase that I love so much. People are always 'entertaining' or 'surprising'. He always finds such a novel way of describing things.

Small Island is possibly my favourite as my mum is the same age, from a similar bit of Midwest America, and moved to England in the same year. She criticises everything but says Small Island is spot on and exactly how she'd have written it. Only he does too much swearing.

History of Everything is amazing.

Didn't like Down Under much, and then there was the short one in Africa which was basically him saying I'm writing this because I promised to do so for charity, but I'm sorry, children dying of preventable diseases isn't funny so this book won't be at all funny. Sorry.