Book Review: At Home: A Short History of Private Life [Audiobook]

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

Narrated By: Bill Bryson

Publisher: AudioGO Ltd.

Category: Narrative Non-Fiction

Synopsis: Bill Bryson takes the reader on a journey through the house and the history of our homes.

My Thoughts: I am a bit of a history nerd. I prefer social history to military (my high school history teacher would have a FIT if she heard that) so this book hit all the right buttons for me on the surface.

And for the most part I really liked it. Like most Bryson books it is hysterically funny in places, and there is certainly a lot of interesting historical nuggets. However, the book also had some problems. The focus of the book is most definitely on the UK and the US. This might not be a problem for some but for me it became a bit repetitive and boring. In addition the idea of using Bryson’s own house as a starting point is at first a smart one, but after a while it becomes clear that there are certain limitations to this approach. The layout of the house is somewhat strange and there are rooms that either don’t exist in other houses or look very different in some houses. This means that some chapters feel somewhat disjointed and not very interesting. The chapter on the basement becomes not so much about the basement as it is a chapter on architecture, and while this is interesting I would have liked to hear what people actually USED their basement for, and this was only sparsely commented on.

All this said, at no point did I want to put the book down. I think that for a history buff it is definitely a must add to the home library. It touches on some of the most important people in history, such as Tomas Jefferson and George Washington as well as famous architects and engineers such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel as well as events that shaped how we live today.

Overall the book seems factually quite accurate and I did learn quite a bit from it. It is a book I will probably add in hardcopy to my history library. I would like to read it and take notes. I listened to large portions of it while driving at it is hard then to make notes to remember both for reviews and for future information.

Audio production: Bill Bryson narrates his own book and does so very well. It really feels like he is sitting there telling the story himself, to me. I don’t recall having any real issues with any part of the audio production. I thought it was well done and easy to listen to.

 

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Unexpected break!

I’m sorry the blog has been so INCREDIBLY quiet lately. My poor laptop has been feeling poorly for a while now and one day a few weeks ago it finally went and died on me. Thankfully I have an awesome IT-guy (aka Dad) who hooked the laptop up to some sort of life support and managed to extract the content of my hard drive and then install it in a new laptop. Therefore all I have lost is time, and I haven’t actually lost that either, as I have managed to read/listen to quite a few books in the the computer was at the Spa. So look for some reviews after the weekend.

In other news I have started back at my teaching job and it has been a drama filled week and I am exhausted. Hopefully things will settle down now that the students come back (my new motto in life is: “it will all work out in the end”).

I am aiming for a  book filled, quiet autumn….yeah I believe in Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny too . I am excited about BBAW and I am hoping to get into some serious blogging, with Banned Book Week hopefully featuring in my teaching as well as in my blogging. As well as some stuff for the Nordic Challenge (with a fun announcement coming there). I’m really looking forward to it all now.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Norway

Today as yesterday and the day before, and tomorrow we are all Norwegian.

I am watching the beauty and dignity of the Norwegian people and I am proud to call them my brothers and sisters. And my heart breaks for them.

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Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Harry Potter Re-Read: Translation Edition (Translation Thursday)

As many of you probably know by now I speak and read both English and Swedish fluently. I’ve always spoken Swedish fluently and understood English fluently but didn’t start speaking English regularly until I was in my teens, the same goes for reading in English. What does this have to do with Harry Potter? Well, one might think that I would be able to comment on the translation of the books into Swedish. I can’t. I’ve only read one short passage out of a Harry Potter book in Swedish and that was for a translation module in grad school.

Anymore I actively avoid reading books that are originally published in English in Swedish translation. Translation is great. It is an art in itself. But things can change in translation. There is a reason why we have the expression “lost in translation”. I fully agree with Laura Watkinson in the interview I posted on June 27th, words can have many meanings and unless you know what the author intended then translation can be tricky. My classmates and I could have pitched battles regarding our interpretations of words and translations. I occasionally take on some translation work. It. Is. Hard.

However, despite knowing that it is hard, poor translations annoy the living daylights out of me. Often when watching American tv shows the character will say one thing, and the translation will be the opposite. And this is my fear about reading the translated Harry Potter books. I love these books so very much. What if the translator has done a poor job?! (Absolutely not saying they have. I’ve read two pages and they were fine, I have no rational basis for my fear…but you know ). One day maybe I will be brave enough

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Happy Birthday USA!!!

_{Image: Vietnam Veterans Memorial}

My recommendations for 4th of July reads:

1776 and John Adams both by David McCullough. Both books tell the story of the beginning of the USA. They are engaging and interesting reads and I really can’t recommend them enough. 

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS: Winners and 2nd Quarter Round-Up

In today’s Sunday Salon I’ve got a mixture of items.

First off, drumroll please! The winner of the 2nd quarter Nordic Challenge is:

Jo V @ Bibliojunkie for her review of The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder

Congratulations!!

Jo V can you please contact me to let me know which of the bundles (classic; children’s; fiction or mystery) you would like. I’ll let you know which books are available for you to choose from. My contact details can be found in the About tab above

Now on to my 2nd Quarter wrap-up:

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April was a very good reading month for me, I managed 11 books. Most of them on my Kindle. A lot of the books were re-reads though.

A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed in 2010)

One Was A Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed in 2010)

To Darkness and To Death  by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed in 2010)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (audiobook)

All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed in 2010)

I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed in 2010)

Ett UFO gör entre (A UFO Makes an Entrance) by Jonas Gardell

Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal

Damia’s Children by Anne McCaffrey

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May wasn’t quite as good as April, I read 7 books, but considering the fact that May is one of the busier months at work I’m still very happy with my tally.

Lyon’s Pride by Anne McCaffrey

The Tower and The Hive by Anne McCaffrey

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Audiobook)

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf

Tomorrow Pamplona by Jan Van Mersbergen

Tales from Suburbia by Shaun Tan

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In June my reading numbers went down and since I was off a lot I have no real excuse. My speed is picking up in July so I am feeling better about that though.

Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (audiobook)

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

God Dies by the Nile by Nawal El Saadawi

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (Audiobook Reviewed in 2010)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Not reviewed at this time.

With so many re-reads this quarter I have a hard time picking a favourite, but I will say that I HIGHLY recommend Water for Elephants in audio. It rocked my socks!

May and June were also busy months here at Notes from the North with a 30 Day Bookish Challenge to celebrate me turning 30, ArmchairBEA and Audiobook Week. In addition to that I hosted the Peirene Press’s Tomorrow Pamplona Blog Tour with an interview with the books translator Laura Watkinson. I’ve also started to re-read all the Harry Potter books (as you can see above) before the release of the next movie. I have a bunch of posts that will hopefully go up in the next few days (this has been a hectic week here as my sister got married yesterday and I’m working almost full time at my summer job). With the 30 Day feature I really got up my blogging steam but I seem to have lost it in the last week, I would like to write more so I hope to find my mojo once things slow down here a bit. Looking forward to the next quarter (which will mean a lot of changes for me personally but hopefully not disturb the blog to much).

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Nordic Challenge 3rd Quarter Reviews (July-September)

Here is the post to link your reviews for the third quarter of 2011 (July-September). Please provide a link to the review not just your blog. Entries that just link to the blog will be deleted.

Since I know people who will be joining this challenge read a wide variety of books I have decided to offer 4 different bundles for the winner to choose from:

Classics bundle; Children's bundle; Mystery bundle; Fiction bundle

Please note that you can pick ONE of the above bundles. Books included in bundle depends on availability at the time.

I will draw the winner using Random.org one of the first days in October. Please check back in October to see if you have won. I will attempt to contact you directly if you have contact information on your blog. If the winner has not replied back to me by October 30th I will pick a new winner.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.