Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: I LOVED this book! I ended up reading most of it aloud to a group of friends about a week after having finished it myself. It was a BIG hit...absolutely the funniest thing I've read in a long while. I think Bill pointed out all the little idiosyncrasies that we Americans love (or love to hate) about the British! The book made me long for another visit to England...
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious - I couldn't wait to finish it.
Review: I found this book so annoying. It was my first 'Bill Bryson experience' and I was expecting to be entertained rather than irritated page after page.
Maybe it's because I am English that I did not find him funny, just patronising and schoolboyish.
When I had finished reading it I had to get this book out of my house. I am going to read The Lost Continent to find out whether it is actually Mr Bryson that offends or just his condescending manner towards 'my home'.
Rating:
Summary: Laugh Out Loud Excellence !
Review: This was the first of Bill Bryson's books to catch my attention ... bought at the airport and laughed all the way to Tel-Aviv ... much to the annoyance of my fellow passengers who must have wondered what was wrong with me ... not many books have this effect. If you're English and have a sense of humour (?) you must read this one ... 'ohh lovely'. By the way, I lost my copy to my Canadian girlfriend who thought it summed-up everything she saw in jolly-old-England... Enjoy ..
Rating: 
Summary: We love you Bill but you let us down
Review: I am a Byson fan so I was somewhat disappointed with "Notes". I usually enjoy Bill's sense of humour but this time he kept descending to mockery. I think this was mainly in a desperate attempt to appear funny to the British readers who have a dark and sarcastic wit but he overdid this, became repetitive, and lost his own lighter voice. I am British so I did enjoy the truthful descriptions of some lesser known areas of the country which I'm sure would be interesting for Anglophiles. However Bill, you kept getting a bit lazy didn't you? Just dashing from the train and up the high-street of numerous British towns is hardly very challenging or worthwhile. I also find it hard to believe that in 6 or 7 weeks you only managed to speak to about 10 people, you never struck me as anti-social before now. Scotland and Wales barely featured except to be patronized. However, I have a real affection for you starting with "The Lost Continent" which is a great travel read, so I know I'll keep buying everything you produce. I love all your anecdotes about language and local history. You have also sussed the British, having taken the plunge and married a British woman (who can blame you), so your observations are accurate and very funny. It is true for example that the British like nothing better than "a good laugh". The greatest sin in Britain is for a person to take themselves too seriously and you are a social outcast if you cannot laugh at yourself (or refuse to buy your round). So its correct to say "Watch any two Britons in conversation and see how long it is before they smile or laugh over a joke or pleasantry". It's also true that British rail is good fodder for many of those national jokes.We are also a very weird nation and rejoice in eccentricity which can become very irritating for the traveller and which Bill conveys well. To be fair, this book is a good introduction for the uninitiated to Britain but has many glaring gaps and runs out of energy halfway through, along with Bill as he puffs up and down yet another high-street
Rating:
Summary: How do I join the Bill Bryson Fan Club?
Review: I seldom laugh out loud; no, I NEVER laugh out loud, but while reading this book, I thought they'd throw me off the train. Put it in your shopping cart, proceed to checkout, then wait impatiently by your mailbox for the funniest book you'll ever read
Rating:
Summary: Discover Bill Bryson
Review: Do yourself a favour and discover Bill Bryson. Start the journey with The Lost Continent where Bill explains at the beginnig "I Come from Des Moins- someone had to! And follow him around the U.S. as he rediscovers places from his past when he saw everything from the back seat of his family's station wagon then continue the journey with the halarious Neither Here Nor There as he travels through Europe.
Notes from a Small Island is like the end of his journey and as much as he laughs at the English they have become a part of him.
Bill Bryson is one of those rare authors who can make you laugh out loud on a crowded bus.
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody hell! Are we really like this
Review: The best (and the worst) thing about this book is the realization that yes, in large part, we are just as Bill describes us. The book turns on a sixpence from being killingly hilarious as you wonder what planet this weird American is actually from as he commits some outrageous faux pas to the sudden realization that he has us bang to rights on some point or another.
For example, as a people we really do like a nice cup of tea, and the best route from A to B really is a valid topic of conversation down the pub...
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This book was incredible! I am an avid reader of travel tales and have certainly read more poetic and descriptive works but....for humor, wit, and an excellent glimpse into the eccentricities of the British, this was wonderful. I don't think I have ever laughed this hard when reading a book as I did while reading this. Bill brings up things that all anglophiles have often secretly wondered at about Britain and the British but were afraid to ask. I have already recommended it to several friends and all are thoroughy enjoying it. A must read..
Rating:
Summary: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Review: If you haven't read a Bryson book before then you're in for a lot of catching up. He has quite an addictive style and as a travel writer will take his loyal readers to the ends of the earth. Unfortunately he doesn't always remember to bring them back. Bill Bryson writes like a sort of Clive James without the political edge. If you don't know who Clive James is, he's like Bryson but with politics! This book is a freewheeling and fairly rapid take on the many idiosyncracies of the inhabitants of Great Britain. Bryson is an anglo-american with enough wit to see the foibles of both his parent cultures and the style to juxtapose them. He is a brillant author with an eye for the ironic and bitter sweet. This book won't disappoint established fans. It is Bill at his best, the amiable yarn spinning uncle who doesn't mind using a few words and stories that you wouldn't dare share with your mother! Indeed, if you have an amiable, yarn spinning uncle, then this would be just the sort of book to give him for Christmas. Bryson is a charming and often funny storyteller. He would be a pleasure to sit next to on a long haul flight. But make sure that he's sitting in Business Class. Bill is a man who likes his home comforts. In fact, sometimes his writing gives the impression that he'd really rather be at home in front of the fire with the wife and kids. It is this trait that makes him so likeable but also means that this book and several others end rather rapidly, with less anecdotes and more brief "been there, tick that town off on the itinerary" type comments. Unfortunately this means that Scotland which came last on his "circumnavigation" of the British Isles got rather a poor showing. However, it is hard to be brilliant all the time, and Bryson is nearly always so. As far as "Notes from a Small Island" goes, buy it, read it and pass it on to your uncle. Don't show it to your mother...she won't understand. And anyway she'll probably feel sorry for this poor man travelling alone writing about some of the most interesting and funny things that I've ever read about.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: After reading it I felt as if I had taken a trip in England
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