At home: A short history of private life, by Bill Bryson

Taking the 150-year-old parsonage in England where the author and his family live as his jumping-off point, , Bryson has concocted a thoroughly entertaining and discursive history of practically everything of importance that happened in the past century and a half. Room by room he discusses the hall (originally what a house mainly was -- one large room), kitchen, dining and drawing (living) rooms, bedrooms, baths, the attic, and even the garden. Somehow he manages to drag in the Eiffel Tower, the Erie Canal, Darwin, the Spice Islands, and much more into the discussion without it ever seeming forced. Even the Ice Man gets into the act, and he's been dead for several thousand years. The book is always interesting, often enlightening, and frequently very funny. Bryson has the wry wit of a modern-day Mark Twain. His American English, overlaid speech mannerisms developed during his years of living in England, make his word choice and diction very appealing. Loved it! 452 pp.