This book is a gift. It is one of 1 million which has been given in the UK & Ireland as part of World Book Night 2012 to spread the joy and love of reading. We are glad that you are now part of this great book’s journey, hope that you enjoy reading it and, once you have done so, passing it on to someone else who might enjoy reading it too.
World Book Night 2012 is all about introducing new readers to books and we’d ask that you please share this book with someone who does not read regularly and help inspire in them a love of books. When you pass it on, ask the next reader to record their own thoughts on this book by visiting www.worldbooknight.org and entering the unique identifying number.

"This book is a gift. It is one of a million which is being given as part of World Book Night 2012 to spread the joy and love of reading. You can enjoy it and pass it on and still keep it with you. All you have to do is read it. Once you have, the story is yours forever.

Please try this book. We think you're going to love it."

To find out more about World Book Night, simply visit : www.worldbooknight.org


Thank you, World Book Night, for giving me this wonderful opportunity to give away 24 copies of Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson! Last year I gave away 48 copies of Toast by Nigel Slater, and I am very happy and excited about being part of this international book event again!

This year I chose Notes from a Small Island to celebrate World Book Night 2012.
I love travel books, and I believe this book is for all kind of readers. (So please don't be scared if you think you're a non/light-reader! I assure you will enjoy this great book.)

"After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson-bestselling author of The Mother Tongue and Made in America-decided to returnto the United States. ("I had recently read," Bryson writes, "that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another,so it was clear that my people needed me.") But before departing, he set out on a grand farewell tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home.

Veering from the ludicrous to the endearing and back again, Notes from a Small Island is a delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation that has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie's Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey. The result is an uproarious social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain, from the satiric pen of an unapologetic Anglophile."

So take your time and enjoy reading! Thank you :)
Happy World Book Night!

This one is reserved for a BCer. I believe she will share with non/light/any-readers!

Thanks for waiting. Enjoy :)
I will be looking forward to reading journals!

Thank you very much salvami for sending me this WBN copy to go into my 2012 WBN book box and be lent out to light readers in my Anglican Church Community and expat groups here in The Netherlands.
Unfortunately this book arrived water damaged and still very wet. We had two days of hot sunny weather here, so someone in the post office must have left the package lying in a wet place or outside in the rain 3 days ago or more, for it to get so wet. However, the book is drying out now, and it is still readable. It just doesn't look all that nice. I will read it myself first, and then take it to church on the next occasion. My daughter is getting married this week and we are entertaining guests and family from England, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Spain. So we will be very busy and I cannot get back to church for another couple of weeks.
I am going to put quite a lot of photos here to show you the water damage. I really appreciate your generosity salvami, in sending me this book. It is a great pity that such a lovely new book should have got damaged this way.

I have started to read this book myself so that I will know how to describe it to others when someone shows an interest in it. I now have another copy that another BookCrosser offered me at a BC meeting in Colchester, UK, whilst I was on holiday there a week ago. So that makes it easier, to have one copy upstairs and one copy downstairs. This copy, although damaged is still very readable, it is only a bit bent and yellow-stained on the bottom right hand quarter of the book.

Whoops I am sorry but I kept forgetting to make this journal entry after I finished the book. It was a really enjoyable read and very humorous. I loved Bill's first impressions of England and the English and I had to smile because it was all true! There were some parts in this book that I really liked, like on page 200 he trips over his walking stick and turns the TV off with his head! He mentions that he was curious to know how he had done it in case he decided to make it a party piece! Also on page 315 where he describes how 3 dozen English people are having a picnic on a mountain top in an ice storm and he found it so unusual and mad that he thought, "God I love this country".
Lastly on page 354 he is wondering why a grapefruit was called a grapefruit. He describes it as an unfamiliar fruit that is yellow and the size of a cannonball and tastes sour and he wonders if someone was presented with it, way-back-when, and thought to himself "Well you know, it rather puts me in mind of a grape".....and maybe that's how it got its name. He says "I don't know about you but I don't believe I would think this"!!! It is just so funny! Loved it.

After I finished this, my husband read it as he was curious at what made me laugh out loud so many times. However, he is Dutch and I don't think he got all the humour. He said he found some parts funny like when Bill had slept rough and was cold in the night and he put his underpants on his head and then in the mornming he asked someone directions to somewhere and this person gave him the directions but said something like , "You had better take the underpants off your head before you go there". I can't give a page reference for that as my husband only told it to me in his own words. Anyway he awarded it with a 6 star rating. So not too bad!

After a 3 day expat meet up here in Almelo, this book is going home with Susan to Antwerp in Belgium. I do not know if Susan will leave a journal entry, but when I see her after she has read the book, I will help her to make one, even if she has to use my computer for it!

I enjoyed reading this so much. I think I might go looking for more books by Bill Bryson. He is such a good writer. I will be giving this book back to Nicole, and borrowing another book from her!

I received this book back from Susan, and it has already gone to Mary to be read by her. She lives nearby and she said she will read it quickly if she likes it!!

This book is now with Mary.

I stayed up half the night reading this book and my husband kept complaining because I was laughing so much. It is a really funny book and now I like Bill Bryson, too! I did manage to fit in 3 hours sleep. I could have slept longer but the darned next door neighbour rang my doorbell.
Giving book back to Nicole right now!

I have got this book back from Mary now.
I have decided that, since I ended up with two copies of this title, I will take this one to the BCUK Unconvention in Colchester, Essex.

I am taking this book to the BCUK Unconvention in Colchester. It is such a good book that I'm hoping someone will spot it and take it home with them. It deserves to be read more and I do now have two copies of this. The other copy is out with a new reader now, but I will get it returned to me eventually.

If you are reading here, then I want to tell you that this is a. FREE . book, and there are no catches! It is now yours! Please read on.....
If you are the finder of this book it would be nice if you could leave a message here to say that you have it. Do not worry because I don't want the book back. It is yours to keep if you want it. I just want to know it is now in safe hands.
Hello and congratulations!
You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join. If you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me, chamonix44. as your referring member.
Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!