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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
I always look forward for a few chuckles reading a Bryson book, however this is not that book. After the first few chapters, I realize this is a quite serious read but I'm not all that disappointed, he is after all a very good writer. Take a house, his home and what goes into that home and that is the basis of the book. From top to bottom he takes us through the basics of the items we take f marvelous inventors that made it all possible. We don't stay land locked at all as nothing began or was inspired by being just in the one house so we are set to go all over the globe and what a trip it is. I was doing just fine, very enjoyable and maybe slightly too comfortable and then...Mr. Bryson dared to go there...go figure...the question of human waste...I suddenly am slung back in time to reading more about sewers and sewer systems when I read Les Miserables by Victor Hugo...I didn't ever want to revisit that topic but here we are. I muddle on and frankly I don't want to know how it works or where it goes, I just know when I turn on a faucet or flush a toilet the business is taken care of. Well, it is part of the house so yep he went there. All kidding aside it's a wonderful work full of the history of things we take for granted and the people that we owe a big thanks for their visions and making our lives a little safer and quite a bit easier so we can do what we most enjoy....like reading.
This deceivingly simple book turned out to be one of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. By breaking down a modern house into its separate rooms, Bill Bryson takes you on a thousand year tour of how people have lived throughout the ages. You learn about countless industries and lifestyle habits - how they started and how they eventually influenced the way in which we all live in our homes. I highly recommend this for anyone yearning for history painted with a broad brush. Great stuff.
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I didn’t quite follow how the topics covered in each section were relevant to the chapter heading, but so so many fascinating facts and anecdotes that I’m already regurgitating in every conversation
Bill Bryson is always an enjoyable read. This one is mostly an 18th and 19th century British and American history of the 21st century British and American home. It’s a little of everything.
Easily a favorite. Took longer to read than it should have because Bryson's tangents sent me on google investigations of my own. Adding humor to history is an invaluable talent. You know it's a good book when you're sad to reach the end.
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
This book is a slow meander through the history of the home. It works best as an audibook narrated by Bryson, in my opinion. It's a great nonfiction book to accompany a long car journey. Every morsel Bryson dives into is fascinating and I've found myself sharing many of his insights in everyday conversation. You won't look at yards, especially the height of them in England, the same way again!
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Bryson at his best: Entertaining, educational and bound to give you lots of juicy tidbits with which to entertain and annoy your children on long car rides or housemates on a snowbound weekend. Good stuff!
Bryson writes well-researched books, filled with interesting facts. He has a real knack to weave the interesting anecdotal personal history of different people and their inventions/discoveries into the bigger picture of world history.
It was an absolute joy to listen to this book and Bill's calm but engaging narration.
It was an absolute joy to listen to this book and Bill's calm but engaging narration.
I left this review too late to be very detailed, but I did enjoy this and it made me curious to learn more about certain things. It began very engagingly - I was surprised at how interesting I found the details about country clergymen and the lives of those around them - but floundered now and then. The conceit of making it about each room in an actual house fell apart after a while; I'd be mid-chapter, flipping back to see what it had been titled and wracking my brain for a connection. Some of the tangents could easily have been omitted, and I did end up skimming some sections when I realized I just didn't care about a given topic (or had already read plenty about it elsewhere). But quite a few tidbits will stick with me, especially of the "you always hear X but in fact Y" variety - always fun.