Book Chatter

The Road to Little Dribbling
By Bill Bryson
Doubleday Books, Hardcover, 9780385539289, January 2016 400pp.

The Short of It:

Bryson’s long-awaited follow-up to Notes from a Small Island. As funny as Bryson can be, I was disappointed with this one.

The Rest of It:

Twenty years ago, Bryson took his readers on a farewell trip through England. That hilarious adventure was documented in Notes from a Small Island. He made the trip before moving his family to the US and now, years later was encouraged to make a return visit to some of those places even though he has since moved back to the UK.

Twenty years can change a person’s perspective and that is the case here. Bryson is a wonderful writer and has been a fave of mine for a very long time. He won me over with A Walk in the Woods and I’ve read many of his books over the last ten years; no matter the subject. The man can write.

But…

This one comes off as somewhat hostile.

He’s still funny but all of his adventures are told with a slightly superior “I’m better than you” edge which made me a little uncomfortable. Clearly, his patience has been tested one too many times while writing this one. He has no tolerance for twits or stupid questions. I get it. The man is not perfect and I, too, have little patience for complete dolts, but over and over with the unkind comments became a little laborious to read. Many of the people he encounters anger him in some way. Or, he just chose to highlight those instances since they stuck out for him. Not sure.

In the end, this wasn’t the escape read I was hoping for but he’s still one of my favorite writers and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

One Word for 2016

Yes, folks! Finally! My #OneWord for 2016 has been chosen and it’s DISCOVER! A good, strong word and something that I’ve been thinking about for a really long time.

For me, the end of the year is always a time for reflection. What went right? What didn’t? I spent all of 2015 struggling. I couldn’t manage my schedule. I was stressed. I lacked sleep. My health was not good which undoubtedly was not helped by the other stuff I mentioned. It pains me to admit it, but I was not happy. I am normally a pretty happy person so I fought that and tried to be happy but it was just too much energy to maintain. And really, why should anyone have to fake it?

So when break came around and I had 25 days off, I fell apart. Truthfully, it began over Thanksgiving but didn’t actually happen until I was off. It’s like something in my head just went “poof” and that was that. No more.

First, I whined. Then became a little angry and then when I ended up hurting my foot I was forced to just sit down and be still and that is when my word came to me. I need to dig deep and discover who I really am and what I really want from life. The way I’ve been living is not the way I want to live.

Just to clarify. Family is good. Marriage is good. I love my family but I feel as if my mind is often occupied with time schedules, work carry-over, the sludge of every day life. I need an overhaul.

I wan to discover: