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Reading: Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson which I found in the great book shelf clear out. I've never read a Bill Bryson book, but I had a vague sense that people liked them. So far I'm not terribly impressed with this. A lot of sweeping generalisations, many of which I out-right disagree with. Still, only in the opening chapters and it may improve.

Listening: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward as interpreted by the BBC as a modern podcast. Very stylishly done. Most people seem to be listening to the sequel, but I'm still on catch-up.

Watching: Well we watched Jools Holland's Hootenanny last night, or at least the 15 minutes or so either side of midnight (which was long enough to get Rik-rolled). It feels mildly unsatisfying that our New Year tradition involves switching on the telly to watch someone else count down to midnight, but it is the one we have.

Crossposts: https://louisedennis.livejournal.com/591485.html

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From:

liadt

I've read some of Bryson's travel books and wasn't impressed by them either. I might give his popular science books ago though.

From:

One of the pull-quotes on the book's cover describes it as "hilariously funny" - I'm not sure it's even raised a smile yet!

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purplecat

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