I'm getting through everything Bill Bryson ever wrote. A few years ago I happened to pick up "A Short History of Nearly Everything" for a trip. I loved it, but then never bothered to see if he had written anything else.
It turned out he had written a few "travel" type books that are insanely funny. Most of it is pretty unbelievable, and he sometimes ends up in fortuitous situations that seem a little coaxed. But who cares? It's really funny writing.
If you want to get into Bryson start with "A History of Nearly Everything", and then his trip to Australia called "In a Sunburned Country".
It's pretty light reading, and the audio-books are even easier to get through because he's a good narrator, so it's perfect for the train.
Right now I'm reading "Made In America". It's a pretty good walk through American history from the point of view of a linguist. The nice part is how much history is packed into it.
In it you find out facts about America like history of the restaurant or the influence of American Indian names on our language. How little some cultures provided words and how much others did.
I also have numerous Sci-Fi books that I buy to relive my youth, only to come across the main character using a teletype machine, or something equally stupid and ancient and I find myself hurling the book across the room.
I love Sci-Fi, I hate Sci-Fi that's dated.
