What readers think of The Body, plus links to write your own review.

This is a biology book like no other you have ever read. It is a serious book that is packed with information, much of it highly scientific, but it is always readable and understandable. And here's the secret sauce that makes it so much fun to read: It is often irreverent, frequently hilarious, and repeatedly snarky. Translation: It's fun to read!

Prodigiously researched and written by travel writer Bill Bryson, this is a deep dive for laypeople (no medical degree needed) into mysteries of the human body from head to toe. This is a book about you! Chapters cover everything from the brain to the guts to the nerves. You'll learn not only how our various pieces and parts work, but also what happens when things go wrong.

But it's not just boring fact after boring fact after boring fact. For example, in the chapter on skin, the body's largest organ, you'll find out such fascinating revelations as:
• When you touch something, your brain not only tells you how something feels, but also how it ought to feel, which is why a lover's caress induces a sigh and the same touch by a creepy stranger could make you shudder.
• Sweating is activated by the release of adrenaline, which is why you break into a sweat when you're stressed.

Oh, and the very accurate biological description of sperm in chapter 18, "In the Beginning: Conception and Birth" is so funny I laughed out loud. Meanwhile, other parts are only for the strong of stomach, such as the description of what is likely the most extraordinary story on record of appendectomy survival and a recounting by the patient herself in a letter to her sister of the first mastectomy, performed in 1810 without anesthesia.

Why read a book about your body? Not only is it interesting to learn what makes us tick, as well as sick, but also it could help you to live a healthier and longer life. Understanding how your body works can make you appreciate and care for it better instead of taking it for granted.

It's not often that a nonfiction book can be described as witty, amusing, and highly entertaining, but that's exactly what this is.