At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Reading in bed surrounded by beagle and cat with a big cup of coffee. Yes, I am my father’s daughter.

I’m about 70% through At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. This was, I believe, the first book of Dad’s that I picked up after he passed. I have a terrible habit of reading numerous books af once. Technically I am working on about six at the moment, four of which came from Pop and two of my own devising. Goodness knows I love Bill Bryson. Bill Bryson is one of the best people on the planet. This is only the second book of his that I have read. The first being the classic, A Walk in the Woods. His style is fantastic. He’s so witty and fleshes out what could be mundane at a cursory glance. At Home is divided by rooms in a house, his own home actually, formerly a church in the countryside of Northern England. He manages to provide a history of modern civilization. 1851 has proven to be quite a pivotal year! I picked it out because it was given to him last Christmas. Thinking back I felt like it was an appropriate start because that was just before he got sick. He had a few symptoms at Christmas but we had no idea how bad it was yet. Truth be told he’d had other symptoms for about two years prior but they hadn’t been diagnosed at all. This book reminds me of the quiet before the storm. A nice Christmas, just after I’d gotten engaged.

Speaking of, my fiance is trucking his way through Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It’s good to know that when he is finished I’ll have a seventh book to work on.