The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

As an avid fan of Bill Bryson, I was ecstatic to discover this at a beach-side kiosk. And as it’s billed as a memoir, I knew it wouldn’t be hard going. Here Bryson is on top form – snippets from his early days in Des Moines, Iowa, enlivened with photos of his early years take us back to the heyday of America in the 50s.

Even though I was born in the late 70s, Bryson’s witty prose and colourful anecdotes made even me nostalgic for the era of paper routes, TV dinners and Dick and Jane. The titular Thunderbolt Kid is Bryson himself, who uses his ‘superpowers’ to periodically – and amusingly – eradicate the many morons who seem to plague his charmed childhood.

Easy to dip in and out of, this is classic Bryson – evocative, silly and very human. Be warned: this is not a laugh-out-loud read; it’s a roar-with-mirth-and-scare-the-neighbours book!
Price: £7.50
By: Alix Norman

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.