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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Sometimes Bill Bryson veers off on lengthy tangents. If you're okay with that, then this book is filled with interesting anecdotes.
I loved most of this book, but the first half was definitely superior.
3.5
Just finished at home. Simultaneously the most mundane yet fascinating book. Haha - now, I need something with a bit of drama
Just finished at home. Simultaneously the most mundane yet fascinating book. Haha - now, I need something with a bit of drama
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
I love reading Bill Bryson. This book has a TON of info packed into it. I love his little comments about things. They make me laugh every time. This book also made me really appreciate the time period I live in. I would not want to go back in time and live during the time they thought bathing would make you ill.
Ein Buch von Bryson verspricht immer Unterhaltung auf höchstem Niveau. In dieser Gechichte der trivialen Gegenstände lässt sich Bryson aus über die Dinge die uns im normalen Leben und wohnen umgeben. Schwerpunkt sind Wohnen und Bauen und zwar im angelsächsischen Raum. In seinem bekannt amüsanten Stil erzählt uns Bryson über Salzstreuer, Beton und Kamin-Anordnungen. Wunderbar zu lesen - wie alles von Bryson bisher - ist dieses Buch fast so gut wie sein unvergleichliches Down under und sein Shakespeare-Heftchen.
This is a solid 4.5 and Bill Bryson continues to be my favorite nonfiction author! He uses the original floor plan of the 19th century English country home he lives in as the inspiration for this book—with each chapter being themed on a different area of the home. I live for weird history & science trivia and this book is a wellspring of bizarre facts that make for great conversation. So much to think about. I did zone out a little when he covered architectural movements and the statistics of falls within the home but I still enjoyed this immensely. I will never take another modern convenience for granted!!!
I found this really interesting. It's light-hearted, although not as humorous as some of his other books. It's not really about anything in particular, and the topics covered are wide ranging and highly varied. It works though, and many of the topics are surprisingly interconnected. In a way, it reminds me of a show I used to watch in high school called Connections, were the host would start with the invention of something like the plow, and show how it "directly" led to the development of radar or nuclear fusion. It's definitely worth a read for those who like history, but don't have too much training in it.
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
A bit scattered and not quite as closely related to the theme as I thought, but still an interesting collection of facts and historical trivia.
Fantastic stuff. It’s basically a history of human civilization, with all the most interesting parts set like jewels in a bedazzled pathway leading from Cro-Magnon times to the present. It is loooooong (as is the history of human civilization), but it bounces around from detail to detail and story to story with a lightness that keeps it all peppy and entertaining. I’d pay a pretty price to be able to retain this stuff for later recall. Bryson is also very dryly funny, and I find his voice soothing, so this really worked for me. If you liked his “The Body,” read this; if you like this, read “The Body.”