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Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain
Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain | Bill Bryson
In 1995, Iowa native Bill Bryson took a motoring trip around Britain to explore that green and pleasant land. The uproarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, is one of the most acute portrayals of the United Kingdom ever written. Two decades later, Bryson now a British citizen set out again to rediscover his adopted country. In these pages, he follows a straight line through the island from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath and shows us every pub, stone village, and human foible along the way. Whether he is dodging cow attacks in Torcross, getting lost in the H&M on Kensington High Street, or more seriously contemplating the future of the nation s natural wonders in the face of aggressive development, Bryson guides us through the old and the new with vivid detail and laugh-out-loud humor. Irreverent, endearing, and always hilarious, The Road to Little Dribbling is filled with Bill Bryson s deep knowledge and love of his chosen home."
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willaful
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The moments of wit or interest aren't nearly enough to make up for the curmudgeonly feel of the book overall, to say nothing of the casual racism, homophobia and transphobia. I originally DNF'd this and I wish I'd stuck with that decision, since I used to love this author.

#DoubleSpin

Faranae Every time Bill Bryson shows up on the URC, I go “well, more grist for the snark mill!“ 😆 7mo
willaful @Faranae Yes, I deliberately found a URC category I could put the book in, and was rather pleased with my choice. 😂 7mo
19 likes2 comments
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KristiAhlers
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Pickpick

Y'all, if you haven't read this author you're missing out on a fun laugh out loud at times read. His storytelling is really engaging. Fun nonfiction read! #bookspin #bookspinread @thearomaofbooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 10mo
dabbe I love his books and have spit my drinks out numerous times when reading him! 😂😂😂 10mo
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KathyWheeler
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I‘m lucky I got in this short walk today; we had quite a bit of rain. I have a couple of hours left in The Body Lies and am reading The Road to Little Dribbling as my evening book. #audiowalk

lynneamch Thank you! It's the kind of book I like to listen and set the timer for 15 minutes when I'm relaxing to fall asleep and was able to get it on Libby tonight. Originally fell in love with him listeniing to this on a road trip 2y
KathyWheeler @lynneamch I listened to A Walk in the Woods and did it exactly like you described. 😊 2y
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MissLucyIrene
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Pickpick

Bill Bryson is a near perfect companion to a glass of wine by the campfire…

#billbryson #bookstagram #mtcrawford #rockypaddockcampground #carbook #escapefromreality

Suet624 Oh yes. 2y
LeeRHarry Definitely 😊 2y
43 likes2 comments
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Booksbymybed
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Pickpick

Another love letter to Britain, written by Bill Bryson 20 years after The Notes from the Small Island. I started it a while ago, hoping that I can visit again soon. I hope I don‘t have to wait too long to go.

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MittenGirlPeach
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I unreservedly love Bill Bryson‘s books, and I was so happy to pick this one up to read next, but . . . I already love it too much. I need it to last! Therefore, I think I‘ll also read my #Doublespin tonight while I “watch” some football.

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andrew61
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Pickpick

#booked2020 #armchairtravel
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft Summer done.
I cd have gone further i know but 1 day i want to do what bill does + tour my country visiting pubs + any brown signs that catch my fancy. At times i laughed out loud + other times even for someone who despairs at the annoyances he describes i found his constant grumpiness wearing hence my friday night beer old peculier, + my did he drink a lot of beer. 👇

andrew61 I first read bryson in the 90's when i fell upon neither here nor there, his youthful travels around Europe which i loved fir its hilarity and youthful joy. Ive read several of his subsequent bks but i feel really conflicted abt this as i haven't laughed as much for a while but i hated the continuous moaning, hoping that is nit me even if some of his targets are spot on such as govt, but hapless shop assistants? 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage I‘ve heard this one is super overly grumpy, although the thought of touring from pub to pub sounds fine to me! 4y
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quietjenn
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Am enjoying my travels around England with Grumpy Old Man Bryson, including a brief visit to Chatsworth, #pemberlittens.

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veritysalter
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I‘m a big fan of Bill Bryson, I love his ability to notice the quirks of the British that we view as completely normal.

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mabell
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Pickpick

With his customary wit, Bill Bryson, my favorite parsimonious travel writer, takes on the UK again 20 years after writing Notes from a Small Island. Some places he revisits, some are new. Of course his analogies and turns of phrase are often overly colorful and inappropriate, but he is in general extremely entertaining and informative. And how does he uncover these amazing stories?!
#wintergames #tbrread #TeamFozziwig

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veritysalter
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Scochrane26 I ❤️ most of bill Bryson‘s books. 5y
LeahBergen I have this one waiting on my shelf. 😄 5y
RachelAmphlett Brilliant book! I also loved “Down Under” 5y
See All 6 Comments
veritysalter He picks up on British quirks that we don‘t realise we have. It‘s great to see an outsiders (although he‘s lived here for years) view of our country. 5y
OriginalCyn620 Sounds great! 5y
Crazeedi I've had this book on my list for a while now, I really need to get to it!! 5y
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Andrea313
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New #BookMail! I bought and read the (then) entirety of Bryson's work on a trip to the UK about fifteen years ago, and now every time I read one of his books, it's like taking the trip over again.

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Morr_Books
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Mehso-so

Finished my first book of the #24in48 Readathon! @24in48 #audiobook

Mamafoshay What is this challenge? 5y
Morr_Books @Mamafoshay - You can find info about this readathon at https://24in48.com 5y
47 likes2 comments
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smilingshelves
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You know you're in for a treat when the first paragraph already has you snickering. Love Bill Bryson!

Aims42 He‘s a favorite of mine too! LOL 5y
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jenlbean
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Pickpick

I love Bill Bryson's books. This one was like a trip with my dad across Britain. His description is thorough and his attitude is very relatable.

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EmilieGR
Pickpick

Hilarious, cozy, warm

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Laura317
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Mehso-so

This book was ok. The author‘s attempt at humor often fell flat for me. He seems like a grump. The descriptions of England were lovely, though, and made me wish I was able to visit again.

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Leftcoastzen
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Pickpick

#24B4Monday Love this book! It‘s been on the Kindle for a while .Bill kind of wanders around the U.K. going to villages and well known places.He travels like I enjoy traveling.Sometimes the best places and best people are the ones you meet on the way to your destination. #Readathon Only about 90 minutes clocked so far.

BeansPage 90 minutes is great! Keep going hun! 😊 6y
Andrew65 A good start. 👏 6y
Trashcanman Where a long sleeve shirt 6y
45 likes3 comments
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Laura317
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I should have learned from my first Bryson book that he is snarky and not really nice. No wonder we are considered “ugly Americans” when traveling. However, I love to read about England, so I continue on...

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Dolly
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Mehso-so

Entertaining and possibly useful for those wishing to walk or visit the UK. The author‘s use of labeling an exhaustive number of people idiots, interfered with my respect for him as a person and therefore an author. I understand he‘s trying to be funny but that type of humor misses with me. He‘s not on my list of writers I hope to meet.

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Dolly
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Gees Louise! Is this author trying to be funny when he calls people idiots because they follow policy and comments that he hopes an innocent man - who asked honest questions and received snarky comments in return by the author - gets lost? I‘m sensing Bill Bryson has the need for one-upism.

Do his stories come off as mean spirited to anyone else? I noticed this in A Walk in the Woods - he said mean things about those who worked in fast food.

everlocalwest Yeah, I don't get Bryson. I think his snark is too mean spirited and he genuinely does not seem to enjoy travel. I have no idea why he is such a popular travel writer. 6y
Dolly @everlocalwest I‘ve convinced myself that one can tell lots about another‘s personality by what they find funny. Then I wonder what my sense of humor says about me 😬🚽 6y
41 likes2 comments
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Nevermore88
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krismlars
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My old friend has just poured its last cup. Now the question is, do I go electric?☕️

mcctrish Oh no 🤦🏻‍♀️ I have a stove top kettle ❤️it seems more permanent than an electric one although this unfortunate event kinda proves me wrong 😂 6y
krismlars @mcctrish I can't even remember when I purchased this one. It's at least 10 years old, probably older. I'm leaning towards this style again, because I'd still be able to make tea if my power was out haha. 6y
mcctrish Exactly! Good thinking 6y
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MommyWantsToReadHerBook
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For this early in the year, I'm pretty stressed out and have been spending way too much time on my phone instead of reading because The Small Rain wasn't gripping me. I want to finish it but right now Bill Bryson is giving me some much-needed laughs!

BarbaraJean This is such a fun one! I didn‘t like his Notes from a Small Island (so negative and complain-y), but I really liked this! 6y
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JoyBlue
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Bailedbailed

Well, I'm torn. I'm enjoying this well enough; but at 25% in, I still have 10.5 hours to go. Am I *that* interested? So, I'm going to create a new Goodreads shelf for myself: put a pin in it. Maybe someday I will run out of more compelling reads on my TBR list and come back to this? 😂

Aims42 I have a shelf for “those” books too lol #SomedayReads (edited) 6y
JoyBlue @Aims42 Oh, good—I‘m glad I‘m not the only one! 6y
Aims42 @JoyBlue haha, far from it! 🙌🏻 6y
69 likes3 comments
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ElectricKatyLand
Mehso-so

I didn‘t love this one nearly as much as his earlier books. Not sure if his voice has changed or my tastes have, but some of the humor felt mean spirited rather than insightful. Overall, a light and entertaining account of walking through (and experiencing) all corners of the UK.

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A_woman_on_a_bike
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I‘ve just realised that this wonderful little app can save my relationship; my OH doesn‘t have to put up with me reading bits out of this book that are making me laugh out loud: ‘A fascinating pursuit,‘ they go on, ‘is the search for missing junction numbers, such as junction 3 of the M1 motorway.‘ Indeed. How many times have we all wondered where the fuck that got to? ...And to think there are people who need alcohol or sex to have fun. 😂🤣😜

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starsky
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White's own copy, according to the caption beside it, was bound in the skin of his pet spaniel. I am guessing that the spaniel died at a convenient moment and wasn't sacrificed specially, but the caption didn't say.

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BekaReid
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"London is arguably the biggest city in the world. Not in terms of sprawl—though goodness knows there is plenty enough of that—or number of inhabitants, but in terms of density and complexity and depth of history. London is not just vast horizontally but vast across time. History has left it sumptuously jumbled."

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GinEyre22
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Mehso-so

#LitsyAtoZ
Hoooooo boy.
If I wanted to hear an old man rant about milenials and demean service workers, I would turn on Fox News...

Thatpartyhat Ha! Spot on. 7y
17 likes1 comment
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GinEyre22
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#readingresolutions Day 9: Cringeworthy
Not a good look there, Bill...

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BarbaraJean
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Pickpick

This was my library book club pick for December. I went into it with low expectations, having been underwhelmed by Notes from a Small Island several years ago (I think I wanted more nostalgia & less complaining). But I really enjoyed this! It was both fascinating and wryly funny. I‘m glad I listened to the audio to experience the UK version, and seeing the differences when I switched to the US print version from time to time was SO interesting.

nickimags I'm listening to it at the moment and it's really funny. 7y
BarbaraJean @nickimags It really is! I enjoyed it on audio. 7y
25 likes2 comments
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BarbaraJean
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I‘ve been listening to this on audio, but have the print version out from the library & have been reading bits from the hard copy from time to time, often when I want to note down a quote I like. I keep finding differences between the two. It seems the audio is the British edition, since the print copy keeps cutting out Briticisms like references to “wheelie bins,” Tesco and the like. The audio version of this passage is below—I much prefer it! ⤵️

BarbaraJean “There are loads of people like us. We are all here because we like it here, or are married to Britons, or both. If I may say so, you are a little more cosmopolitan, possibly even a little more dynamic and productive, sometimes even more adorable and gorgeous because we are here with you. If you think the only people you should have in your country are the people you produce yourselves, you are an idiot.” 7y
rockpools This has quite thrown me - it's the second post I've seen this morning about US/UK versions. I kind of knew things were changed for different audiences, but assumed it was mainly spelling and grammar. Especially in a travelogue, surely these things add to the sense of place? I'm wondering what I've missed through reading international versions now - And how I'd ever know!! 😕 7y
BarbaraJean @RachelO I feel the same way! It‘s frustrating to find passages that are so different, or references that are missing. Though in this case it seems to go both ways—I found a whole paragraph on British food names in the print edition that‘s not in the audio. It also makes me wonder who edited it for the US edition. A lot of these differences seem to go beyond editorial purview (speaking as someone who used to work in publishing!). 7y
26 likes3 comments
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BeckyRoy
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My laundry 👂 listen

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BarbaraJean
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“It was the only time in my life in which I have moved like someone does when a movie film is reversed. I dived into the water and then straight back out again, backward, and have never gone into an English sea again.

Since that day, I have never assumed that anything is fun just because it looks like the English are enjoying themselves doing it, and mostly I have been right.”

😂😂😂

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BarbaraJean
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“It really doesn‘t pay to go back and look again at the things that once delighted you, because it‘s unlikely they will delight you now.”

This is both hilarious and heartbreakingly true.

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BarbaraJean
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Getting a head start on my library‘s book club pick for December, while I wrap some gifts for #SecretSantaGoesPostal / #WinterSolsticeBookExchange! I‘m excited about all these goodies... I hope my match will be, too!

Updrifting Ogod I love Bill Bryson. 7y
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Blaire
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Pickpick

A light and enjoyable read which is I️ wanted. Not my favorite of Bryson‘s, but enough moments that made me smile and I️ particularly liked the parts when he explained what it is that he likes about the UK. Definitely made we want to travel the British countryside. #travelmemoir #readharder #readharder2017 #bookriot

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Blaire
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My current read is perfect for # 🇬🇧 #british. I went through a huge Bill Bryson phase many years ago and have read all of his books except this one. I needed a fun read and this fits the bill. #emojinov

RealLifeReading I'll never forget visiting the Roman Baths in Yorkshire some ten years ago, wandering around and listening to Bill Bryson's audioguide! 7y
Blaire @RealLifeReading what a fun experience! 7y
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keithmalek
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ptkpepe98 And that is sad to me. Just sad. For so many reasons.😟 7y
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eraderneely
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Day 6: Indie Books
I can never figure out which books are from indie presses, so I interpreted today's #autumnreads prompt as #indiebookstores
Bookmarks from some of my favorites and recent purchases from indie stores on my travels - Foyles Bookstore - London, Barter Books - Alnwick, and Women & Children First - Chicago.

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Brie
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Pickpick

A companion travelogue to Bryson's earlier book Notes from a Small Island, this work is a love letter to Bryson's adopted nation of Great Britain. He references some previous travel spots, but many are new as he traverses the country. More recent than Notes, which made it much more enjoyable and relevant to me.

Suet624 That cover! 7y
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keithmalek

I should perhaps explain that Norfolk has a long-standing reputation for inbreeding. As my son Sam used to say: "Norfolk: too many people, not enough surnames." I am not for a moment suggesting that the rumors are entirely true, but I will say that when the police do DNA checks after crimes they sometimes have to arrest as many as twelve-thousand people.

Suet624 😂😂😂 7y
19 likes1 comment
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keithmalek

We were idiots really, but awfully happy too.

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cariashley
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Pickpick

Have been having a long week with very little time for reading, so I was happy to finish this audiobook tonight. There's a lot more grumpy old man fodder than in his prior books, but most of Bryson's observations are both witty and generous; this is a great read for any Anglophile (especially American ones). 🇬🇧

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Soubhiville
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"Ladies' bedsore, yellow cowpox, tickle-me-knickers, Sneezle, old man's crack". How does YOUR garden grow?

Abailliekaras Love Bill Bryson! 7y
58 likes1 comment
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Moonpa
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Pickpick

Having a ball listening to this book! I love grumpy Bill Bryson!

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Laura317
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I couldn't resist these two books. I love a good travel story. And Amor Towles is automatic buy for me.

Jaimelire Rules of Civility was a good one. Enjoy😀 7y
Laura317 @Jaimelire I loved A Gentleman In Moscow, so I've high hopes for this book. 7y
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Soubhiville
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Bill Bryson sure has a way with words. 🤣😂.

Honestly I've been a bit bored with this book overall, but occasionally he throws out gems like this, and keeps me reading.

MariaW 😂😂😂 7y
48 likes1 comment
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Ncostell
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Pickpick

I went through a big Bill Bryson phase about 15 to 20 years ago but haven't read any more of his works again until now. The Road to Little Dribbling is a follow up to Notes from a Small Island. I remember now why I liked him so much in the first place, enjoying his interesting facts about the places he's visited. Now I have an urge to go on rambling walks through the English countryside. 🐄

AnnieReads I'm listening to One Summer right now. Bill Bryson is such a hoot! 7y
Ncostell @AnnieReads I've never listened to any of his books, I bet they're great on audio! 7y
AnnieReads A Walk in the Woods is one of my favorites to listen to. 7y
Ncostell @anniereads I just checked Overdrive through my library and they have quite a few of his books on audio. I'll have to check them out! 7y
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