Tag: Fascinated

Bill Bryson – Made in America | Review

Title: Made in America

Author: Bill Bryson

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count: 480

Rating: 3.25/5

As a general rule, I’m a pretty big fan of Bill Bryson, although I will admit that I’ve enjoyed some of his books more than others. This is one of the ones that I didn’t quite enjoy as much as the others, but mostly because it’s just a super dense read and because the print on it is so tiny that you feel like you’re straining your eyes just to read it.

The good news is that the core subject matter here is pretty interesting, especially if you’re the kind of person who’s quite bookish or who’s fascinated by the written word. That’s because it basically covers the history of American English, beginning at the beginning with the formation of America and carrying on through pretty much to the modern day.

That gives this book a pretty weird vibe wherein it feels kind of like a history book and kind of like a dictionary, which is why I made this book one of my bedtime books. You’d have to be kind of mad to pick this up as your main read because of how difficult it is to lose yourself in it. It’s not really one of those books that you can binge on, you know?

With all of that said, there’s some great stuff in here, and I particularly liked the origin stories for some early Americanisms. Because of the makeup of the United States and its early colonies, US English has a bunch of words borrowed from French and Spanish, as well as from the many Native American languages that are now sadly extinct.

The thing that I struggled with was the way that so much of the text just consisted of italicised words in lists and stuff. You’d get a couple of paragraphs of really fascinating history and then just as you’re gearing up and getting into it, he’d hit you with a long list of the different words that relate back to that bit of history and eventually I just found my eyes glazing over.

So I think it would have been a little more interesting if he’d selected fewer words to talk about and made it matter, rather than just throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. That makes it a better choice for a reference book perhaps, especially with the comprehensive sources and index at the end, but it doesn’t work so well if you’re just trying to read it like a normal book.

So make of all of that what you will. I would probably recommend it to people who are interested in language and the origins of words, but not to the general reader. Even if you’re a bit of a Bryson fan, you might find it heavy going. Yeah.

Learn more about Made in America.


Agatha Christie – Come, Tell Me How You Live | Review

Title: Come, Tell Me How You Live

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 192

Rating: 4/5

This book was heavy going just because of the way in which it was written and the complexity of the subject matter, but it was also a lot of fun. In it, Christie writes about her experiences going on archaeological digs with her husband Max Mallowan before the outbreak of the Second World War, which makes this an interesting mix of memoir, travel writing and historical non-fiction.

Having already read An Autobiography by Agatha Christie, I have to say that this feels more like a missing chunk of the autobiography than a standalone memoir in its own right. Still, I was fascinated by what Christie had to share here, and while there was a little bit of a colonialist attitude from time to time, it didn’t ruin the thing.

For me, there’s a lot to love here, but I can also see why this wouldn’t be the perfect book for everyone. You’ll need to have at least a passing interest in archaeology, though.

Click here to buy Come, Tell Me How You Live.