Books by Bill Bryson
“There is a writer named Bill Bryson. You might be familiar with him. He is an American but he has spent a lot of time in the UK. He was actually chancellor of Durham University. He just writes about whatever he wants to write about. He uses these very long and involved, convoluted sentences, full of adjectives, full of whimsy, and it’s brilliant. Not everybody loves him, but I do.” Mark Nichol on grammar and punctuation books.
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
by Bill Bryson
***Shortlisted for the 2020 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize***
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson is a great introduction to the biology of the human body, written in Bryson's easy, accessible style. A lot of it you may already know, some you may not, but it's an enjoyable, engrossing read.
“What I really liked about A Short History of Nearly Everything is that it gives an excellent account of a lot of the personalities and the interconnectedness of important discoveries in cosmology and elsewhere. He does such a great job of bringing together our understanding of cosmology, evolution, paleontology, and geology in a very, very fluid way.” Read more...
David Goldberg, Physicist
“A Walk in the Woods is a book about keeping everything in perspective. Bill Bryson is an American who lived in England for 20 years and decided that he wanted to find a way to reconnect with America and get in shape. He came across the idea of walking the Appalachian Trail. Now the Appalachian Trail is one of the most gruelling hikes in the world. It’s about 2,300 miles, and goes up and down something like 50 5,000-feet peaks – it doesn’t go around them. Despite this, Bill Bryson produces this delightful self-effacing account of his journey, and it is laugh-out-loud funny on every page.” Read more...
The best books on The Future of Advertising
Steve Lance, Entrepreneurs & Business People
Interviews where books by Bill Bryson were recommended
Books Robert Redford Starred In
We love books here at Five Books, and OK, we might be a bit snooty at times and insist that a book is always better than the movie based on it. And yet…there are many beloved books we wouldn’t have read if they hadn’t hit the big screen. In honour of Robert Redford (1936-2025), a list of some of the books recommended on our site that he starred in the film versions of. One of them changed my life.
The best books on The Future of Advertising, recommended by Steve Lance
The author and Emmy award-winning advertising exec discusses the changing face of the advertising world. He argues that the digital revolution has been mirrored before in the change from radio to tv advertising.
The best books on Cosmology, recommended by David Goldberg
David Goldberg, professor of physics at Drexel University, recommends the best books to start learning about cosmology. He explains his choices to high school student, Eric Bolton.
The best books on Human Imperfection, recommended by Henry Normal
Poet, writer and Bafta winning TV and film producer, Henry Normal, talks about his experiences bringing up his autistic son, the need for acceptance and why we should all embrace our human imperfections. Along the way he recommends five books that inspired him as a young man and continue to inspire him today.
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1
The Double X Economy: The Epic Potential of Empowering Women
by Linda Scott -
2
The Great Pretender
by Susannah Cahalan -
3
Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
by Gaia Vince -
4
The Body: A Guide for Occupants
by Bill Bryson -
5
The World According to Physics
by Jim Al-Khalili -
6
Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships
by Camilla Pang
The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Anne Osbourn
The Best Science Books of 2020: The Royal Society Book Prize, recommended by Anne Osbourn
The Royal Society is the world’s oldest independent scientific academy, dedicated to promoting excellence in science—and that includes an annual prize for the best popular science book. Here Professor Anne Osbourn, Fellow of the Royal Society and chair of this year’s judging panel, talks us through the six books that made the 2020 shortlist—and what makes them intriguing, accessible and exciting.
