Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

I've read many of Bill Bryson's books--most of them before I started writing on this blog, some of them even when I was in college and barely had any time to read for fun. His I'm a Stranger Here Myself is one of my favorites, and I often think about his A Walk in the Woods where he travels along the Appalachian Trail, which I listened to while running along the trails in North Carolina. But I'd never read this book about England, and since Tommy and I are going to England in August for our tenth anniversary, this was one of my England books that I wanted to read before going there. (I only have about 20 books on that list, haha!) Bryson is an American who has spent almost his entire adult life living in Great Britain, and this book is about a period of two months that he spent traveling around Great Britain and visiting many different towns and areas. I really enjoyed the parts where he was talking about British culture and personalities and interests, and sometimes lost interest in the very nitty-gritty travelogue details that he went into in all of the tiny towns that he visited. I loved his love for this country, and his admiration of its many virtues, and it made me really excited to go there (and wishing I could spend longer). I wouldn't say this was a super fascinating read for the most part--it was too long-winded and too much focused on all of the little facts about all of the towns he visited, and it all started to blend together after a while--but I liked the overall effect of it and I'm planning to read his second book about England next.