We rank Bill Bryson’s best books to help new readers discover America’s funniest travel writer
There’s a part in Notes from a Small Island where Bill Bryson describes a painful train journey to Milton Keynes in the UK. He is sat facing a woman and her 10-year-old son, who keeps picking his nose, kicking Bryson’s shins and staring at him with his “piggy eyes”.
Bryson tries to ignore the child but is irritated by his smug stare and “busy finger”. When the train finally pulls into Milton Keynes, Bryson takes great pleasure in getting his rucksack from the overhead rack and dragging it across the boy’s head.
The anecdote is funny as he tells it, but we dare say it wouldn’t make it to publication today for fear of ruffling modern sensibilities.
Bryson has indeed upset a small number of readers, but we have always enjoyed his inimitable wit. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’ve never read his work, we urge you to try it. To help you decide where to start, we share below Bill Bryson’s best books ranked.
Bill Bryson’s best books – ranked
We have used a mixture of reader reviews and editorial views to rank Bill Bryson’s best books.
1. Notes from a Small Island
Year: 1995
Buy: Amazon, Waterstones

In 1995, before leaving his adopted home of North Yorkshire to move back to the US, Bill Bryson took one last trip around Britain in a sort of valedictory tour of the green and pleasant land that he had called home for so long.
His aim was to take stock of the nation’s public face and private parts (as it were), and to chart what precisely it was he loved so much about a country that had produced Marmite, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowells, and Gardeners’ Question Time.
Notes from a Small Island went on to sell over two million copies and remains one of Bill Bryson’s best books.
2. Down Under
Year: 2000
Buy: Amazon, Waterstones
It is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still Australia teems with life – a large portion of it quite deadly. In fact, Australia has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way than anywhere else.
Ignoring such dangers – and yet curiously obsessed by them – Bryson journeys to Australia and finds a nation that is cheerful, quick-witted and unfailingly obliging.
3. A Walk in the Woods
Year: 1997
Buy:
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