I'm a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson

This book contains a series of essays written as a weekly column for a British magazine during Bryson's first several years back in the United States after twenty years in England. Although they're not linked by a narrative arc, it's endearing to follow the progress of several years through the essays (in an almost Walden-like way), and they're all quite funny. There's also a fair amount of trenchant commentary on the United States and its culture and the practices of its citizens. This book would be a great occasional book--the kind of thing you would keep by your bed and pick up when you can't sleep.