Finished a couple more books

I just finished reading two more books.

A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich

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I have been on a little bit of a history kick lately. The story behind this book is actually pretty interesting. In 1935 a 26-year old Gombrich was tasked with writing a history book that could be enjoyed by children and adults alike. He completed the book in 6 weeks. The way he made it enjoyable to children is the text isn’t littered with dates. Instead he will tell you about on piece of history taking place, such as Julius Caesar in Rome, and when he tells you about another piece of history he would say it happened around the same time as Julius Caesar or maybe 100 - 200 years after. This helps you put everything into perspective, without constantly having to see tons of dates. I guess this makes it more of a history book you can read instead of one you would want to use as a reference book.

I’m a Stranger Here Myself (Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away) by Bill Bryson

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I love Bill Bryson books. He could write about the most boring subject in the world and make it both an interesting and humorous narrative. This book is a collection of weekly stories that Mr. Bryson wrote for Night & Day magazine, one of the Sunday inserts for a newspaper in England. Bryson had lived in England for a while with his English wife and kids and had recently moved back to America. His stories are a mixture of what is different between America and England and also is used to introduce English citizens to some of the American traditions. As always, he is very funny, and this is a very entertaining read.
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