BOOKSIMO

Description On the same day that retired police inspector Auguste Jovert receives a letter from a woman claiming to be his daughter, he returns to his Paris apartment to find a stranger waiting for him. That stranger is a Japanese professor called Tadashi Omura. What's brought him to Jovert's doorstep is not clear, but then he begins to tell his story - a story of a fractured friendship, lost lovers, orphaned children, and a body left bleeding in the snow. As Jovert pieces together the puzzle of Omura's life, he can't help but draw parallels with his own; for he too has lead a life that's been extraordinary and dangerous - and based upon a lie. Review Having recently been to Japan I have begun to be attracted to books associated with Japan. This book was recommended in an article, not realising it had won an award, I would otherwise have been wary as those books are often too " literary " for my tastes. Overall I found this book very confusing -...

Description Learn how to customize your clothes--designing new pattern shapes, style lines, and fashion details with Sara Alm's easy-to-follow instruction! In Sara Alm's  Designing Clothes with the Flat Pattern Method , sewers learn a technique that opens up myriad possibilities for making one-of-a-kind garments. By using basic pattern blocks called slopers, Alm shows sewers how to design new shapes, style lines, and fashion details--creating patterns for nearly any piece of clothing they want to sew. Take a basic straight skirt pattern, for example, and convert it into any other skirt design. Change the hemline or the basic shape of a skirt from straight to A-line to full swing with multiple gores. Try adjusting the waistline placement or convert it from waistband to waistline-facing. Change the style and placement of the closures. The options are endless once sewers understand the basics of flat-pattern designing, which is explained in the book. Designing Clothes wi...

Description Critically acclaimed, award-winning British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard details his childhood, his first performances on the streets of London, his ascent to worldwide success on stage and screen, and his comedy shows which have won over audiences around the world.   Over the course of a thirty-year career, Eddie Izzard has proved himself to be a creative chameleon, inhabiting the stage and film and television screen with an unbelievable fervor. Born in Yemen and raised in Northern Ireland, Wales, and England, he lost his mother at the age of six and that has affected the rest of his life. In his teens, he dropped out of university and took to the streets of London as part of a comedy double act. When his partner went on vacation, Izzard kept busy by inventing a one-man escape act, and thus a solo career was ignited. As a stand-up comedian, Izzard has captivated audiences with his surreal, stream-of-consciousness comedy—lines such as “Cake or Death?” “Death St...

Description Briddey is about to get exactly what she  thinks  she wants . . . Briddey is a high-powered exec in the mobile phone industry, overseeing new products from concept ('anything to beat the new apple phone') to delivery. And she works with her wonderful partner, Trent. They've been together for six magical weeks, in a whirlwind of flowers, dinners, laughter and now comes the icing on the cake: not a weekend away or a proposal but something even better. An EDD. A procedure which will let them sense each other's feelings. Trent doesn't just want to tell her how much he loves her - he wants her to feel it. Everything is perfect. The trouble is, Briddey can't breathe a word of it to anyone (difficult, when the  whole  office is guessing) until she's had two minutes to call her family. And  they're  hounding her about the latest family drama, but when they find out about the EDD - which they will - they'll drop everything to interroga...

Description A stunning debut. Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life. Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine? Review I knew as soon as I began reading this book that I was going to enjoy it. Narrated by Eleanor the words just flew off the page as if I was listening to someone right there in the room telling them to me. I loved going on...

Description YOU SEE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH EVERY DAY. BUT WHAT CAN'T YOU SEE? Amira, Sarah, Paula, Ewan and Charlie have worked together for years - they know how each one likes their coffee, whose love life is a mess, whose children keep them up at night. But their comfortable routine life is suddenly shattered when an aggressive new boss walks in .... Now, there's something chilling in the air. Who secretly hates everyone? Who is tortured by their past? Who is capable of murder? Review I began reading this book and all was as described in the jacket blurb. An office where a new boss arrives and everyone has to be on their toes. Then the book skipped to a character called Anne - a child psychologist who seemed to be in America. Whereas the office was in the UK.  I read on and then it happened again! This seemingly unrelated story that Anne was telling - it was like another book had got mixed up with the one I was reading. I checked the blurb agai...

Description COW [n.] /kaʊ/ A piece of meat; born to breed; past its sell-by-date; one of the herd. Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype. Tara, Cam and Stella are strangers living their own lives as best they can – though when society’s screaming you should live life one way, it can be hard to like what you see in the mirror. When an extraordinary event ties invisible bonds of friendship between them, one woman’s catastrophe becomes another’s inspiration, and a life lesson to all. Sometimes it’s ok not to follow the herd. The Cows is a powerful novel about three women – judging each other, but also themselves. In all the noise of modern life, they need to find their own voice. Review This book was a little different,  in that main characters didn't directly know one another, unlike most books of this type, where they are all friends. It took me a moment to realise that, but once I had each of them fixed in my mind it was easy to distinguish each character...