A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson: Book Beginnings on Fridays, First Line Friday, The Friday 56, and Book Blogger Hop

Today's Featured Book: 

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

by Bill Bryson

Genre: Nonfiction

Published: 1998

Page Count: 279 pages

Summary: 

Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. 
 
For a start there’s the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa along for the walk. But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson’s acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America’s last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is a modern classic of travel literature.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

Not long after I moved with my family to a small town in New Hampshire I happened upon a path that vanished into a wood on the edge of town.

A sign announced that this was no ordinary footpath but the celebrated Appalachian Trail. Running more than 2,100 miles along America’s eastern seaboard, through the serene and beckoning Appalachian Mountains, the AT is the granddaddy of long hikes. From Georgia to Maine, it wanders across fourteen states, through plump, comely hills whose very names—Blue Ridge, Smokies, Cumberlands, Green Mountains, White Mountains—seem an invitation to amble.

Bryson, Bill. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, p. 1. Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

Then, with as much pride as if I had baked them myself, I brought out a little surprise—two packets of Hostess cupcakes. 

Katz’s face lit up like the birthday boy in a Norman Rockwell painting. 

“Oh, wow!” 

“They didn’t have any Little Debbies,” I apologized. 

“Hey,” he said. “Hey.” He was lost for greater eloquence. Katz loved cakes.

Bryson, Bill. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, p. 56. Kindle Edition. 

First review (1999): Bill Bryson. A middle-aged guy and a friend hike the 2,200 mile Appalachian Trail...or, at least, 890 miles of it. Funny.

Second review (2011): Reread: Oh, how I love Bill Bryson. He's everything I look for in an author. A good writer. Brave, but not too much. Human. And funny. Most of all, funny.

So last week I reread A Walk in the Woods. I reread it slowly. It was one of those books you don't want to end. All along the way you are laughing. You just have to laugh at Bryson. He tries to do the hard thing, but it's...well, hard. And his companion, Katz, is equally human. Quintessential Americans.

So much fun.

Third review (2026): I brought this book along on our trip to Georgia last week. My goal was to walk part of the Appalachian Trail. The start of the trail is in Georgia, but the start is nine miles from a highway. That wasn't doable for me. Instead, I found a place where the trail (1) crossed a main road, and (2) there was a parking lot for my car. 

I found it. Unfortunately, the trail was both rocky and steep. I did not want to fall. So I walked the Appalachian Trail. The entire width of it. Yes, about eighteen inches. And then I revised my hiking plan for the day and walked on a track running parallel to the Appalachian Trail, through the Chattahoochee National Forest, a path neither rocky nor steep. It was lovely. 

I'm still reading the book. It's still just as humorous as it was the first two times I read it. And now I have a much better idea of what Bryson and his sidekick experienced.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

Does the headline “Must-Read Books” grab your attention? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee-Addicted Writer)

It depends on who wrote the headline. If it is a blogging friend, yes. If it is a publicity team, no.