I'm a Stranger Here Myself - Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson is always good for a chortle or two...after living in England for nearly 20 years with his British wife and four children, he moves back to America to the quaint college town of Hanover, New Hampshire. He is contacted by a friend back across the pond to write a column for English readers about life in America. This book is a collection of Bryson's columns on that topic - accordingly, they are a bit random and haphazard - but on the bright side, each one is quite short and made for a good read while waiting here and there for my husband to check all the important messages he receives on his blackberry. The columns are a bit hit or miss and range in topics from Bryson's love of motels, to America's obssession with junk food, to sending his son off to college, to celebrating Thanksgiving. Bryson's laziness, cynicism, and luddite-ness - while present in many of the other books I've read comes at the reader in full force in this one. At times, it is charming, but I found myself more than usual wishing he would just stop complaining and get over himself. I would not recommend this book as an introduction to Bryson - it is not as well written or humorous or informative as A Walk in the Woods or In a Sunburned County. But for readers who are already familiar with Bryson and like his brand of humor, these are fun little anecdotes that are worth reading here and there - but probably not straight through in one sitting.