Bryson lives (lived?) in a former rectory in England, and one day had the idea of going through every room in the house and researching the history of something related to that room. The result is a fascinating history of all sorts of things from trade to electricity. You can pick it up and put it down almost at random. At 452 dense pages and a range of topics, it was very difficult to discuss. We mostly chatted about what we found to be the most interesting facts in a desultory way.