What I'm Reading Today

I love Bill Bryson's books! I usually laugh out loud at almost every chapter, and so far At Home is no exception. The cover flap says that Bryson was inspired by his family's own house (a Victorian rectory in the English countryside) to "journey about his home from room to room to 'write a history of the world without leaving home.' The bathroom provides the occasion for the history of hygiene, the bedroom for an account of sex, death, and sleep, the kitchen for a discussion of nutrition and the spice trade, and so on." For a history geek like me, addicted to useless historical trivia tidbits, this book is heaven! I have only read a couple of chapters so far, but have already come across the development of the house from Roman times, the invention of the chimney, the progresses of Elizabeth I, and the windows at Hardwick Hall ("more glass than wall") among many other things. Love it!