So, yes, I only managed to talk one book during the month of October. Le Sigh. Although I would also like to state for the record that I did manage to finally - finally - finish the tome that is the September issue of Vogue as well, all 928 pages of it, which I read cover to cover. (Girl can't help it.)
In a Sunburned Country had been sitting on my bookshelves for five years, completely unread and unattended. An Aussie friend of mine mailed it to me as a "going away present" as she was moving from Philadelphia back to her homeland Down Under.
Newly energized and determined to make my grand Australian adventure happen sometime in 2013, I figured Bryson's book was the perfect place to start my research. I've read two other books by Bryson in years past, which I enjoyed quite a lot. In a Sunburned Country has risen to the top of the list though as I found this book utterly charming, side-splittingly (new word?) hilarious at times, and exactly the sort of read I was in the mood for this month. Australia is a massively large country/continent, and I felt Bryson did a stellar job of emphasizing just how incredibly big this country is, while also covering quite a bit of territory.
My favorite kind of travel essays/travel writing is the kind that makes you want to pack your bags immediately and book the next ticket off to where ever you are reading about. Bryson's book fits that bill entirely. To be fair though, it's not like I needed all that much convincing to begin with...
1 comment:
I read this a few years ago and really loved it. I had previously read Bill Bryson's NON-travel book about Shakespeare and really, really detested it/him (Bryson). In reading several other Bryson travel books, this one still remains my favorite. He's far more hilarious and adventurous and far less cynical than his travels through Europe.
Loved.
xox
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