Queen's Highway

Doreen Orion is the female Bill Bryson.

I have often stated that Bill Bryson is one of my favorite authors. He is a writer who does what a professor should: he makes learning fun and hilarious. I advise never to read Bryson in a public place. Passersby will think you are insane due to the snickering and full-out laughing you will be doing. As it always is with authors we love (unless you like James Patterson -- I don't), it is always too long in between new books. So it is with pleasure that I found and read QUEEN OF THE ROAD by Ms. Orion.

If you like books that are funny and well-written, get yourself to a bookstore and get this book. You will be glad you did, and will quickly make a list of people you want to read small passages to. Doreen and her husband (Project Nerd -- just read the book...) are the perfect comedy pair.

Ms. Orion is the star of the book with credible performances by her husband (awesomely named Tim), the bus, the pets and a slew of new-found friends in RV parks throughout the U.S.A. and Canada. When first we meet Doreen she is addicted to only a few things: shopping, Oprah and the great indoors.

A self-proclaimed "Princess from the Island of Long", there is no way she herself or you the reader can believe she will be able to successfully complete the mission declared on the book cover: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 miles, 200 shoes, 2 cats, 1 Poodle, a husband and a bus with a will of its own.

Through mechanical mishaps, family visits, an armed robbery, mountain hiking and nudist parks, Doreen and Tim bring us along on the trip of a lifetime. You can measure this trip in laughs, not miles.

I won't ruin the ending, but suffice to say when the family arrives back in Boulder, Colorado, she is a changed woman....for the most part.

QUEEN OF THE ROAD is published by Broadway Books. http://www.broadwaybooks.com .

Please also visit http://www.queenoftheroadthebook.com .