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

On mild reflection, it seems particularly appropriate that a blog devoted to reviews of things I love best - books, music, the occasional movie, and useful or remarkable objects of other varieties - should begin with a review of Bill Bryson's book, At Home. Bill Bryson lives in an old house in England, which was built for a clergyman around 150 years ago. The chapters of the book are titled, for the most part, after the rooms in the house, and each is a history of the things to be found in - or related to - that room. It is a remarkable book, suitable for reading aloud (though I expect the chapter on the bedroom may want abridging for the younger set), delightfully set out in Bryson's best tradition - humorous, witty, and informative. From the introduction: "Houses aren't refuges from history. They are where history ends up." And he makes his case over the next 480 pages or so most convincingly and delightfully.

As a homeschooling parent, I feel compelled to add a note about its educational value: For the advanced pre-teen and older, I have not seen a better introduction to world/European history.