At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. A couple of days ago, I finished At Home. At first, I wasn’t too willing to commit to an almost 600-page book, but I like Bryson, so I said, “OK, let’s give it a try.”
The book explores the history of everything around us; things in our homes and the house itself. It’s about our behaviors and how the relationship between us and our belongings has changed over the centuries.
We all take for granted having a place to crash after a long day at work or to relax during a lazy weekend, but houses, apartments, studios, and so on have evolved throughout history. Bryson takes us by the hand to explain why construction materials (timber, bricks, concrete, etc.) are fascinating, or how the invention of cotton mills changed history, for better or worse.
In many respects, it’s a fantastic read.