The Home - Bill Bryson

I really do enjoy Bill Bryson books, but strangely not the travel ones so much. I tend to go for the factual ones, like The history of nearly everything or Mothertongue.

Even when explaining something really difficult like quantum physics or language construction his writing style is engaging and understandable - even if I don't retain much of the information I have at least understood it at the time I'm reading it.

So, I was looking forward to this explanation of the everyday things we find in our homes.

Bryson is famous for the fact that he's an American very happily living in the UK, and he used his old rectory home in Norfolk as the basic outline for this book. Each of the rooms in the building were used to explore the elements of our homes, things such as electricity, gas, toilets, or even bricks, chimneys or stairs.

Fascinating facts about mundane items that we take for granted, and the people who invented, designed or utilised them, are discussed.  If I were to have any criticism about this book it would be that great chunks of it are about America (when I'm sure British examples could be found), but that's unfair, as I said at the beginning Bryson is American!

Bought in Waterstones.
22nd January - 23rd February 2012