Bryson has a distinctive voice, although it is often referred to as being a bit too irreverent and sarcastic.  His books are not for the easily offended.  A Publisher's Weekly critic once wrote that Bryson's "strength lies in his ability to incorporate astounding facts about the country with nutty personal anecdotes."  In fact, big laughs are often found at the expense of the eccentric characters he meets along the way.  Even in Bill Bryson's African Diary, a book detailing a trip to visit the poor, AIDS-ravaged country of Kenya at the request of CARE International, Bryson still manages to get in a couple laughs.

In The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way and Made in America, Bryson shares his love for the English language in his usual light-hearted manner.  And in his 2003 book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bryson takes on the sciences to uncover the origins of the Earth from the Big Bang to the beginnings of human civilization.

If you're an audiobook fan, try listening to some of Bryson's books.  Those read by the author are the most enjoyable as you experience his own voice (a strange hybrid of American and British accents).

Click here to see what Bill Bryson titles are held by Escondido Public Library.