Journal Entry 1 by tranq1 from Tampa, Florida USA on Friday, May 04, 2007

Amazon.com
In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods, often emerges as a major contender for King of Crankiness. Granted, he complains well and humorously, but between every line of his travel books you can almost hear the tinny echo: "I wanna go home, I miss my wife."

Happily, I'm a Stranger Here Myself unleashes a new Bryson, more contemplative and less likely to toss daggers. After two decades in England, he's relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire. In this collection (drawn from dispatches for London's Night & Day magazine), he's writing from home, in close proximity to wife and family. We find a happy marriage between humor and reflection as he assesses life both in New England and in the contemporary United States. With the telescopic perspective of one who's stepped out of the American mainstream and come back after 20 years, Bryson aptly holds the mirror up to U.S. culture, capturing its absurdities--such as hotlines for dental floss, the cult of the lawsuit, and strange American injuries such as those sustained from pillows and beds. "In the time it takes you to read this," he writes, "four of my fellow citizens will somehow manage to be wounded by their bedding."

The book also reflects the sweet side of small-town USA, with columns about post-office parties, dining at diners, and Thanksgiving--when the only goal is to "get your stomach into the approximate shape of a beach ball" and be grateful. And grateful we are that the previously peripatetic Bryson has returned to the U.S., turning his eye to this land--while living at home and near his wife. Under her benevolent influence, he entertains through thoughtful insights, not sarcastic stabs. 

Journal Entry 2 by tranq1 at By mail in Fellow Bookcrosser, Book Box -- Controlled Releases on Friday, May 04, 2007

Released 5 yrs ago (5/4/2007 UTC) at By mail in Fellow Bookcrosser, Book Box -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending for the May Day Armchair Travel Swap on bookobseesed.com 

Journal Entry 3 by msjoanna from Columbia, Missouri USA on Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Oops! I received this a few days ago and forgot to journal it. Then I was looking for it on my shelf and couldn't find it.

Anyway, it's safely here in NYC. 

Journal Entry 4 by msjoanna from Columbia, Missouri USA on Tuesday, May 13, 2008

My husband read and really enjoyed this book. He reports that while it seems a tad dated, it's still quite funny and, as always, Bryson is an amusing writer.

I'll be reading this shortly as I intend to release it in a bookbox that's heading my way soon. 

Journal Entry 5 by msjoanna from Columbia, Missouri USA on Tuesday, May 27, 2008

This book is comprised of a short column that Bill Bryson wrote for a British newspaper after he moved to Hanover, New Hampshire in the late 1990s. Though a few of the essays (e.g., those related to technology) are a bit dated, overall the columns were entertaining enough to keep me interested through a long plane flight. I was snickering often enough to make the people sitting next to me on the plane think I was extremely strange. Perfect for traveling as each essay is only a few pages long. 

Journal Entry 6 by msjoanna at Bookbox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (7/29/2008 UTC) at Bookbox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This is being released into bluestocking88's Movers and Shakers bookbox.

As this box is on its way home, I hope bluestocking enjoys this book. My husband and I were glad to have had the chance to read this one. 

Journal Entry 7 by Bluestocking88 from -- Wild released somewhere in the state, Washington USA on Friday, August 08, 2008

This came home in my Movers and Shakers Bookbox. I am halfway through my copy, but it's such a wonderful read a second copy is a good thing. I will leave it in the box for round 2. It is an excellent book and fits the theme perfectly. Thanks!