Bryson's Books Reviewed and Inspiring

Two recent notices of Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods have come to my attention.

First is a short review of it online at English language site of the New Straits Times from Malaysia [Malaysia!] on 17 October 2008. There Su Aziz writes under the headlines "Read: Come along for the ride!" that "It’s a humorous book that is also interspersed with informative details of the trail's history and ecology."

Second is from a web site called World Hum; Travel Dispatches from a Shrinking Planet" and their travel blog dated 17 October 2008 with the title "What We Loved This Week: Idlewild Books, the Appalachian Trail and Flowers on the Turnpike." There, contributor Joanna Kakissis writes: "I lived in North Carolina for six years and never managed to step foot on the Appalachian Trail, despite hiking vicariously through the likes of Bill Bryson, Scott Huler and Eustace Conway (via Elizabeth Gilbert)." After finally getting on the Trail while at a conference in Roanoke, VA, she got inspired. Kakissis adds, "I started planning big. Anyone want to take off three months and hike the entire Maine-to-Georgia trail with me? It’s only, uh, like 2,175 miles." [Do I need to comment that that's planning for a very fast hike.]