A friend of mine gives a book party every year. About 30 people gather at her home for a pot luck dinner and a book swap. Each person brings a book – wrapped in plain brown paper, in most cases. Everyone draws a number and as each number is called, selects a book from the pile. As the books are unwrapped, the givers talk about the book, what they liked about it and why they selected it to bring to the party.
The party was last Saturday night. I brought And So it Goes, because it’s the best book I have read so far this year, in that it is the book that has stayed with me the most.
The book I got originally was the biography of Steve Jobs, which I had long ago decided not to read. When I opened it, though, I figured I would do so, since I'm not one to let a book go to waste. Then one of the other partygoers suggested trading, so I ended up with At Home by Bill Bryson. I’m a huge Bill Bryson fan and have read most of his books, but interestingly not this one. Thus far, the Bryson books that I’ve enjoyed the most are The Mother Tongue, a brief history of the English language, and a biography of William Shakespeare that I just loved. For me, it ended any doubt that Shakespeare was indeed Shakespeare. At any rate, I already had a Bryson book on my nonfiction list so I might replace it with this one. Otherwise, I’ll save this one until I finish my list of 54. But it’s certainly hard to refrain from diving in to a Bryson book.
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