What I Will Drop Everything For

There are only a couple of authors whose newest releases will make me put aside whatever else I'm reading at the time, often more than one title, and focus only on that one book until it's finished. One of them is Bill Bryson. While you can't really go wrong with any of his titles, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid has a special place in my heart.

It's his memoir of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa in the fifties. That might sound small, specific, and boring, but it's the opposite. It's warm, generous, sweetly nostalgic without being sappy and, because it's Bill Bryson, riotously funny. Even if, like me, you didn't grow up in the fifties or in the midwest, you may find your own memories jogged - perhaps of stories your parents or grandparents told, or of a store or restaurant that's been in business forever and seems slightly out of time.

But be careful - you might just find yourself wanting to move to Des Moines.