lou's library

Bill Bryson is one of my favourite authors, and yet I hardly ever write about him on this blog. I am not sure why that is, but it sure is high time to change that, so here’s a little blog post dedicated entirely to Mr Bill Bryson and why I think he’s a genius writer.

If you’ve never heard of Bill Bryson or read one of his books, boy oh boy are you in for a treat. I genuinely cannot imagine someone could dislike his writing, because then that person would have to dislike fun. But let me start at the beginning. My English teacher gifted me a copy of Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson when I graduated high school. Little did she (or I) know the obsession she would start by giving me this book. Mother Tongue is about the English language, about its history, the way it works, how it has changed over time and continues to do so. I get that for people with no affinity for language, that might sound a bit boring. But here’s the thing: it never is with Bill Bryson.

The man has written an entire book about household objects and I enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, I laughed my way through it. But I also learned a hell of a lot. Every time I flush a toilet, I put the lid down first because Bill Bryson has taught me that flushig the toilet with the lid up is the worst thing you can do in terms of bathroom hygiene. And that is precisely what makes Bill Bryson a genius to me: his ability to write about complex subject matters in a highly entertaining and accessible way. He is the only writer who could get me to read a book about space, but for him I did so gladly. And I had a great time!

While Bill Bryson does occassionally write about seemingly random topics (I really should use the past tense here as he retired a few years ago HOW DARE HE), he is most famous for his travel books. And my god, do I understand why. He’s American but spent the majority of his adult life living in England (his wife is British, I believe). In Notes From A Small Island, he writes about Great Britain from an American’s perspective with such humour and fondness, you cannot help but love and every single page. But my absolute favourite of his travel books is A Walk In The Woods, in which he decides to hike the Appalachian Trail with an old friend of his, Katz. When I tell you I had tears rolling down my cheeks from laughter while reading this, it is not an overstatement.

Reading a book by Bill Bryson simply always puts me in a good mood, which is why I try to space them out and not read all of his books in quick succession (especially now we know we won’t be getting any more HOW DARE HE). I think there is such skill in writing about actual places in a way that makes them come to life for the readers. Whenever I read one of hish travel books, I feel as though I am right there with Bill Bryson, and that is such a joy to me.

I’m aware this blog post was basically just one big Bill Bryson recommendation, but I think that is totally justified, given that he is one of my favourite authors and yet I somehow always seem to forget to mention him in any of my recommendations. If you now feel like picking up a book by him, I would highly recommend starting with A Walk In The Woods, or, if you’re interesting in language, with Mother Tongue. But actually, you can pick up pretty much any of his books and be sure to have a grand time.