Books most popular in the United States●Essays & Memoirs

Release date: 1998-05-04 $8.99

Comments

1. Bill Bryson keeps it real… - For the Everyman who thinks or dreams about doing something completely out of the ordinary, A Walk in Woods does just that. The stories are funny and genuine, his research is meticulous and interesting. And what happens to him versus what he wanted to have happen is what would happen to most of us. Great read.
2021-11-28

2. Laugh out loud reading - The only other author who I have read who makes me laugh out loud is the late great political satirist Art Buchwald. Bill Bryson is a great storyteller. His interweaving of fact fantasy and fiction makes for truly enjoyable times. I find his and Katzs' quips to repeatedly cause bouts of gut busting laughter. Read this book near people who need cheering up. Do not read this book while drinking beverages unless you want to spray a mouthful or worse a nose full at your nearby surroundings.
2017-02-02

3. I enjoyed it.. Mostly - With some laugh-out-loud moments and interesting people, there is plenty to make this a book worth reading. Some historical information seemed to drag on for me and "Katz" throwing gear and garbage on the trail made me truly mad, but the humor was a highlight and the information about our Park Services Department was eye opening. Unlike some trail stories this one does not make it seem like everyone you meet is a saint and truthfully some of the least friendly people introduced provide some of the most enjoyable parts to read. This is one book that clearly discusses the difficulties, the discomfort and the physical hardships of such an undertaking as hiking the AT. For that reason alone anyone planning on doing it should take time to read it.
2013-02-22

4. Over-hyped - If it weren't for Katz, this book would be unreadable. I hope Bryson gave a lot of the proceeds from the book to him, because without Katz, this would be a long journalism piece with no emotion or story involved. If you want a good account of a hiker's journey on a long trail, seek out Backpacker Magazine's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Scott Williamson. Bryson is quite contradictory in his writing, which was very frustrating. In one chapter alone, he derides hikers with technology (GPS devices, cell phones, laptops) but later extols the virtue of Burger King's air conditioning while slurping a "bucket-sized" Coke! For all his complaining about trails, the National Park Service, and lack of conservationism, Bryson doesn't offer any solutions. He didn't volunteer to update Pennsylvania's maps, and didn't join a conservation group, or even go outside and plant a tree. It seemed like Bryson didn't have enough of a "book" based on just his AT hiking experience and padded it with a ton of filler. He devotes half-chapters to the million year old geological history of the Appalachians, Civil War history, why the American Chestnut isn't around, why there aren't any songbirds on the AT, and etc. He also comes across very misogynistic, with very few sympathetic/intelligent/important female characters. If you've ever thought about hiking the AT, don't read this book, since through all his complaining you may be discouraged.
2013-01-27

5. I think I may take a walk in the woods - Ever since I picked up this book, I've been thinking about taking a hike on the Appalachian Trail. This book is filled with great stories, comedy, adventure and is an over all fun read. The author doesn't hold back, he tells of the good and the bad, the hardships and the glory. Definite recommendation for anyone who likes reading about travel or is thinking about
2012-02-05

6. A Walk in the Woods - I enjoyed reading the book. It made me laugh and there was a lot of real life situations and truths that I enjoyed about the book. I also enjoyed seeing how this experience, had an effect and change on two persons lives. A couple things I was disappointed in were . The authors stereotyping certain classes of people, making the assumption by this that all people in that persuasion were alike. . Some or Much of his scientific information he brought out as fact, when it is actually theory. But I enjoyed reading the book.
2011-11-04

7. What a walk!! - Having just driven a good many of the areas in this book on an eight-week vacation from Georgia up through Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and finally ending for the last week in Gatlinburg, we thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even though we weren't hiking, we recognized and appreciated the geography and cultures that the AT passes through. The humor embedded in the book led me to read parts aloud to my husband as we drove from Virginia to Tennessee. We laughed out loud at some of Katz's antics! First time I've read Bryson & thoroughly enjoyed his work!
2011-10-23

8. Absolute classic! Hilarious! - This book was brought to my attention about years ago from my mom, I gotta tell u I was skeptical, but wow!!! Lol this book is hilarious! It is by far my favorite book of all time, I have NEVER read anything remotely close to as funny as this book... Well done, absolutely brilliant!
2011-05-17

9. A Great Read - This book was wonderfully written. Bill Bryson takes you on a journey with him along the App. Trail. Very humorous and detailed writing style. I read some time ago the rights to this book were purchased by Paul Newman to adapt it into a movie. I would be interested in seeing that happen. Enjoy the book!
2011-03-04

Release date: 1962-07-27 $6.99

Comments

1. Travels with Charley: in Search of America - This book is a true classic. I began reading the book because I know my Dad has read it, and I wanted a common ground for discussion. This is the book that should be assigned for a high school class with essays regarding the changing times and comparing customs across the country. The presence of Charley makes the story even more enjoyable. It has been a long time since I have read John Steinbeck, but his writing style is far better than that of more modern novelists. It is obvious that this is literature.
2018-05-09

2. Made me thoughtful - I picked up this book because I needed a road trip book to fill a participation requirement in a book challenge. I'm so glad that I did. The author took time off from everything to drive across the country with his dog. He met all different types of people and had good and bad experiences. Politics and beliefs came up often and varied person to person. Elections, war and racial desecration are just a little of what was on the minds of many. He's pretty good at giving mostly unbiased opinions of his interactions. He describes many popular geographical spots also. I felt that I received a pretty accurate and interesting look at the U.S. of the past.
2016-08-25

Release date: 2015-06-02 $14.99

Comments

1. Filled with humor and facts - ... Just finished reading this wonderful book. It was a fun read. Interesting because Bryson had made this same trip in the 's. He's traveling now in the s and much has changed. Even more so in the new millennia when I began reading. I believe this book will become a history of Europe as it once was.
2020-02-20

Release date: 2009-05-05 $13.99

Comments

1. Enjoy and drool! - Enjoy the stories and drool over the recipes! It can all be yours! I loved that David actually shared the Paris locations where he shops with contact information. I can make his recipes AND I can visit any of these shops on my next visit to Paris! I have already visited a few of the the websites recommended in the back of the book......including the author's blog and newsletter! It's a good book that doesn't have to end!
2011-11-26

Release date: 2014-03-18 $12.99

Release date: 2015-03-27 $1.99

Release date: 2018-09-20 $7.99

Release date: 1988-06-07 $9.99

Comments

1. One of the great pleasures of my reading life. - In this book, there is little in the way of plot; it’s an account of Mr. Chatwin’s grand meander throughout the southern tip of South America, with side bits about geology, local paleontology, colonial society, organized genocide by both spiritual and governmental agencies, immigrants from Germany, Scotland and Wales, South American Marxism, and Butch Cassidy. All the chapters are short. I’d call them vignettes if I weren’t so enamored of this book. One of the great pleasures of my reading life. I’ll try out some more of his.
2020-08-29

2. Wandering is precisely the point. - The journey is the reward is what Bruce Chatwin’s book is all about. Wandering is part of this process. Both literally as described in the stories he writes as well as in his prose, and the craft he used to create his masterpiece. Reading this work and then Songlines, will given you a deeper understanding of how fiction and non-fiction can reveal deep human truths and lead us to ask better questions.
2020-05-08

3. Just a Collection of So-so Travel Vignettes - From the Nicholas Shakespeare introduction to 'In Patagonia' I thought I was about to read the greatest book ever written. It wasn't. Bruce Chatwin's book was just a collection of average vignettes, typically - pages each, some interconnected, some meandering aimlessly.
2013-09-01

Release date: 2010-09-01 $3.99

Release date: 2012-04-03 $10.99

Comments

1. Too many technical ebook problems - Couldn’t really enjoy reading this ebook version because every time I bookmarked or left a page without marking, the app would keep taking me back to the front page that would not let me scroll past no matter how many times I restarted the app or closed out of the book.
2023-01-22

2. Deserves a place on every American's bookshelf! - A classic remembrance of the kind of journey that may no longer be possible, Blue Highways has been an annual re-read for me since the ''s. Off the superslabs, and away from anything that can be called a "city", this is a celebration of what is usually disdained as "flyover" country. The journey in Ghost Dancer is something that has strong visuals and a gravity of its own towards something slower and simpler. A definite Great American Travel Journal, firmly rooted in the time it was written, and yet timeless in its ability to entertain and enlighten.
2012-08-15

Release date: 2020-08-04 $2.99

Release date: 2020-09-03 $8.99

Release date: 2019-07-16 $14.99

Release date: 2011-02-01 Genre:Travel & Adventure $11.99

Release date: 2015-09-28 $9.99

Release date: 2022-08-23 $14.99

Release date: 2021-04-20 $19.99

Release date: 2011-10-18 $9.99

Release date: 1996-02-06 $14.99

Comments

1. Even better than I remembered - A terrific and touching effort by a devoted son to understand his heritage and the sacrifice of his parents through embracing the one symbol of all they struggled against. And I say that as a fellow member of the Mississippi diaspora, albeit a white one. It is a history or sorts, but really, aren't all of our lives are their own histories? To the AP student reviewer: Pay attention to what others who came before you said and did. Like Faulker wrote, "The past is never dead. It isn't even past."
2014-12-11

Release date: 2004-04-06 $11.99

Release date: 2017-06-16 $0.99

Release date: 2019-04-23 $16.99

Release date: 2015-04-30 $1.99

Release date: 2019-02-12 $3.99

Release date: 2009-02-19 $12.99

Release date: 2015-10-06 $2.99

Release date: 2011-06-30 $12.99

Comments

1. Makes me want to do the hike myself - I read this book a few years ago. I LOVED it!!!! I have always been fascinated with the Incas and Machu Picchu. This book makes me want to go and experience some of what Mark Adams saw and felt during his rediscovering of Hiram Binghams’s journey. I am hoping to do at least a week or maybe two to really fulfill my dream. Thanks for the inspiration.
2016-11-08

2. Read Before Traveling to Machu Picchu - I began reding Turn Right at Machu Picchu several weeks before I started my travels to Peru, cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in September . I had the requisite tour books for Peru but "Turn Right" brought a whole new prospective to my travels. By combining the historical route taken by Hiram Bingham in his quest for the Lost City of the Incas with his personal experiences, Adams gave extra meaning to my trip. Instead of just marveling at the scenery on the train from Ollantayambo to Aguas Callientes I looked for the entry into the Cloud Forest Jungle and it was breathtaking. It was as if I was seeing this green jungle as Mark Adams described it. My travels to visit Machu Picchu were made more meaningful by this amazing combination of history and reality.
2015-10-10

Release date: 2008-01-03 $10.99

Release date: 2014-06-03 $9.99

Comments

1. / Silly; / Excellent - Truth is more fun than fiction. I found John's two novellas that begin Carsick largely cute and silly, seldom funny. But the last / of Carsick where he writes of what really happened when he caught rides from his home in Baltimore to his apartment in San Francisco is much more entertaining and trenchant. As one who has hitchhiked across the USA -- times in the early s -- his account brought back many of my hitchhiking memories and I was reminded once again of all the good and nice people out there who go about their daily lives and occasionally give a stranger a lift.
2014-06-27

Release date: 2001-05-22 $13.99

Comments

1. Memorable, educational, daring travels shared - I am % through this well-written, vividly told travel adventure, so far, and I have found it fascinating from Page on! I know I regret reaching its end. The author shares a personable, observant accounting of her experiences living among exotic cultures, some of which are in remote lands inaccessible to the vast majority of people. The personal connections this writer makes and the narrative pictures she creates are memorable and moving. She brings the world closer, and her voyage is courageous, impressive, and lasting in what it carries forward for those interested in the world's breathtaking diversity of spirit and customs.
2017-09-24

2. Boring - I had to realllly push through this book. Was hoping it would get better. The writting style is horrible...she might as well have been writing small notes of meaningless day to day stuff in a journal. "I went to the store today" " i bought a coat".. Etc...not exact quotes but you get the idea....borinnggggg...then it changed here and there to a cook book. With detailed instructions on how to make stuff...it has no flow and there is no structure. I'm sure shes a nice lady but this book was disapointing to say the least.
2015-07-06

Release date: 2015-06-02 $14.99

Comments

1. Lost Continent. - Condescending of most people and places. Repetitive, pseudo intellectual humor. Refers to his Republican neighbor as a cretin twice… what does severe hypothyroidism have to with party affiliation? “At Home” was immensely readable. This was tripe. Can’t believe it’s the same author.
2021-05-24

2. Wow Bryson, who hurt you? - I couldn’t make it past the second chapter because of the language Bryson uses about people of size, also known as fat people. Bryson clearly has an extremely hateful and denigrating relationship with fat people, and that makes this book completely unreadable. How would any publisher think this was good writing, even in ?
2020-12-08

Release date: 2012-06-09 $0.99

Release date: 2018-06-26 $11.99

Comments

1. A Delightful Snack to Whet the Appetite - As always, Mr. Mayle’s enchantment and love of Provence and the French never fails to charm and entertain. This slip of a book is more of a summation really of his Provence series, a great way in which to introduce new readers to it. If one has read the series, one may find that its contents are a bit of a repetition, charming nonetheless.
2022-08-27

Release date: 2002-12-03 $6.99

Comments

1. African Diary by Bill Bryson - I wish it could have been longer. I was expecting a whole book and was surprised to only get a chapter and a thank you for my donation to CARE. although pleased to be able to donate to this worthy cause, I was a little bit peeved that the nature of the piece was not made clear. As usual, Bryson's wit and description softened the minor irritation. Don't expect a full book.
2011-11-07

Release date: 1951-09-17 $10.99

Release date: 2010-10-12 Genre:Travel & Adventure $11.99

Comments

1. Very interesting read - Great book, but I recommend skipping the sections the delve deep into Russian history and focus on the author's firsthand accounts of his travels. They are fascinating. I find Russian history interesting, too, but the author goes off on tangents and focuses on minutiae of his personal interest. This book should be abridged with or so pages cut, and would be much more readable. It is also a shame that there were no photographs; such would have made the scenes, people, and landscape come alive more.
2012-03-12

2. Entertaining. - I first discovered excerpts of this book in the New Yorker. I found it Insightful, historical, offbeat, personable and overall entertaining. Makes me want to go. Slinkystudio's review here and his many other reviews in the Travel genre always say to read Interstate Exits (or whatever the title is) instead. Why plug the same book so many times? Sounds fishy.... or slinky. Always get the sample first of course.
2011-01-04

Release date: 2008-07-08 $11.99

Comments

1. Excellent book - This was the only travel book on China available in the Burbank library so I felt compelled to get it. Packing for a -month stay in China delayed my reading (although I did get further along than the language books, which were hopeless.) I managed to catch up with modern technology and downloaded the book before departure which kept me company through many sleepless jet lagged nights. This book gave me a much truer sense of the spirit of China than any Lonely Planet book could provide, and I'm grateful for the insights and company during this bizarre trip. From one very grateful lowai, Hilari. P.S. Look me up in Movie Town in Dachang next time you are here.
2017-03-20

2. Funny but overly critical - Troost is funny. I've got to give him that. I found myself laughing a lot and enjoying his honest and unfiltered opinions of this country. However, as a teacher in China I find it unfortunate that his first impression of the country and the people was so overwhelmingly negative. When exploring and trying to understand another culture should we not try and separate ourselves from our own cultural biases? Unfortunately, this book is very unsuccessful when it comes to objectively or evenly compassionately describing China's culture, history, or people. Maybe I am bias myself though, because I do love many things about this country.
2012-06-02

Release date: 1960-06-27 $14.99

Release date: 2009-09-17 $13.99

Release date: 2004-04-13 $8.99

Release date: 2019-03-19 $11.99

Release date: 2007-04-01 $11.99

Comments

1. A great journey - This book has so many meaningful and beautiful story lines. Not only is it a great travel read but the stories about his relationship with his brother and grandmother give the book a deeper meaning then his travels around the world. This book is a much funnier version of a mans "Eat, Pray, Love" quest.
2010-09-12

Release date: 2001-05-04 $12.99

Release date: 2009-06-16 $13.99

Release date: 2005-03-01 Genre:Travel & Adventure $14.99

Comments

1. "Off the Road" Experiences - Very interesting book, which I used to compare my experiences as I walked the "Way" during early . His learnings and comments plus the history really balanced my experiences. I found it very humorous and also grounding, finding my experiences were not too far from his. An interesting companion to take with you, if you ever consider taking a pause in life and following one of Saint James' Ways.
2017-04-18

Release date: 2020-04-07 $8.99

Release date: 2013-05-07 $14.99

Release date: 2012-07-29 $0.99

Release date: 2010-05-18 $11.99

Release date: 2020-04-14 $15.99