Good Moaning France!


Book Description

A favourite character from BBC TV sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo!, undercover British agent and head of Nouvion Police, Officer Crabtree, has usually sought to remain undercover if not exactly invisible—which befits his secret agent roots masquerading as a poloceman. In this delightful book, his self-taught yet masterly grasp of Fronch speaks for itself as it falls under the spotlight as never before. From 'Ploose may I hov a kippy of the dooly nosepooper?' to 'frigs logs', 'scrimbled oggs' and 'fosh and chops' the book is a tribute to mangled words, thoughts and phrases. Arthur Bostrom, who played Crabtree on stage and screen, mixes vowels and mispronunciation as he strives to educate those less well-versed in the French longwodge. Illustrated by John Cooper and ideal for travellers and fans of ‘Allo ‘Allo! alike, Good Moaning France! is a wake-up call for anyone conceited enough to think they are competent in French (or English or any other language for that matter). With readers’ questions answered in Ask Crabtree, examples from Crabtree’s poloce newtberks and a most unhelpful Undex. With a Foreword by music legend Rick Wakeman and permission of the estates of ‘Allo ‘Allo! screenwriters David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd this is the perfect book for anyone crossing or travelling beneath the Channel to France. Reviews ‘Listen very carefully, you will read this more than once. I loaved it’-- Les Dennis. 'I’ve not laughed at anything like I’ve laughed at Crabtree ever in my life, this book is “very good nose”’-- Justin Moorhouse. ‘Buck your fairy trip to Fronce now and take Crabtree’s guide with you. A must-read. Hilarious’-- Su Pollard. ‘DO NOT BUY ZIS BOOK!!! IF YOU DO, YOU VILL BE SHOT!!!’-- Helga.




There Are No Grown-ups


Book Description

The best-selling author of BRINGING UP BÉBÉ investigates life in her forties, and wonders whether her mind will ever catch up with her face. When Pamela Druckerman turns 40, waiters start calling her "Madame," and she detects a new message in mens' gazes: I would sleep with her, but only if doing so required no effort whatsoever. Yet forty isn't even technically middle-aged anymore. And there are upsides: After a lifetime of being clueless, Druckerman can finally grasp the subtext of conversations, maintain (somewhat) healthy relationships and spot narcissists before they ruin her life. What are the modern forties? What do we know once we reach them? What makes someone a "grown-up" anyway? And why didn't anyone warn us that we'd get cellulite on our arms? Part frank memoir, part hilarious investigation of daily life, There Are No Grown-Ups diagnoses the in-between decade when... • Everyone you meet looks a little bit familiar. • You're matter-of-fact about chin hair. • You can no longer wear anything ironically. • There's at least one sport your doctor forbids you to play. • You become impatient while scrolling down to your year of birth. • Your parents have stopped trying to change you. • You don't want to be with the cool people anymore; you want to be with your people. • You realize that everyone is winging it, some just do it more confidently. • You know that it's ok if you don't like jazz. Internationally best-selling author and New York Times contributor Pamela Druckerman leads us on a quest for wisdom, self-knowledge and the right pair of pants. A witty dispatch from the front lines of the forties, THERE ARE NO GROWN-UPS is a (midlife) coming-of-age story--and a book for anyone trying to find their place in the world.




Prison Writing


Book Description

A collection of writing by people in prison and connected to prisons: creative and challenging - one of two special Waterside Press editions. 'A remarkable anthology which will interest everyone concerned with the fate of prisoners and anxious to see their conditions improved': Michael McMullan, Justice of the Peace. 'This fascinating and very readable collection of fact, fiction and verse is the fifteenth issue edited and produced by two probation officers from Sheffield. We are fortunate that they have found a new publisher in Waterside Press to continue giving prisoners (and others), an opportunity to do something wich all writers crave - find an audience to communicate their feelings and experiences... The contributors give deeply personal insights into the nature of their world and prove that imagination and talent are incapable of being destroyed if people are ready to develop them... This anthology deserves to be read... by everyone who is interested in new writers experimenting with the development of their talent. Each piece is different and compelling: David Underhill, The Magistrate.




A Year in Provence


Book Description

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January's frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.




Until You


Book Description

From BookTok sensation and New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas comes a riveting companion novel to Bully. This is Jared’s story.... Have you ever been so angry that hitting things felt good? Or numb to all emotions? The past few years have been like that for me. Traveling between fury and indifference with no stops in between. Some people hate me for it, while others are scared of me. But none of them can hurt me, because I don't care about anything or anyone. Except Tatum. I love her so much that I hate her. I hate that I can't let her go. We used to be friends, but I found out that I couldn't trust her—or anyone else. So I hurt her. I pushed her away. But I still need her. She centers me. Engaging her, challenging her, pushing her—it’s the one last part of me that feels anything anymore. But then she went and screwed everything up. She left for a year and came back a different girl. Now, when I push, she pushes back...and I’m not sure either one of us will ever be the same.




French Milk


Book Description

Through delightful drawings, photographs, and musings, twenty-three-year-old Lucy Knisley documents a six-week trip she and her mother took to Paris when each was facing a milestone birthday. With a quirky flat in the fifth arrondissement as their home base, they set out to explore all the city has to offer, watching fireworks over the Eiffel Tower on New Year's Eve, visiting Oscar Wilde's grave, loafing at cafés, and, of course, drinking delicious French milk. What results is not only a sweet and savory journey through the City of Light but a moving, personal look at a mother-daughter relationship.




The Little Paris Bookshop


Book Description

Monsieur Perdu can prescribe the perfect book for a broken heart. But can he fix his own? Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened. After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself. Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.




The Year of the Dragon


Book Description

Dominic the dragon befriends a boy named Bo as well as the other eleven animals of the Chinese lunar calendar and helps them enter the annual village boat race. Lists the birth years and characteristics of individuals born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon.




Reading My Father


Book Description

PART MEMOIR AND PART ELEGY, READING MY FATHER IS THE STORY OF A DAUGHTER COMING TO KNOW HER FATHER AT LAST— A GIANT AMONG TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN NOVELISTS AND A MAN WHOSE DEVASTATING DEPRESSION DARKENED THE FAMILY LANDSCAPE. In Reading My Father, William Styron’s youngest child explores the life of a fascinating and difficult man whose own memoir, Darkness Visible, so searingly chronicled his battle with major depression. Alexandra Styron’s parents—the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Sophie’s Choice and his political activist wife, Rose—were, for half a century, leading players on the world’s cultural stage. Alexandra was raised under both the halo of her father’s brilliance and the long shadow of his troubled mind. A drinker, a carouser, and above all “a high priest at the altar of fiction,” Styron helped define the concept of The Big Male Writer that gave so much of twentieth-century American fiction a muscular, glamorous aura. In constant pursuit of The Great Novel, he and his work were the dominant force in his family’s life, his turbulent moods the weather in their ecosystem. From Styron’s Tidewater, Virginia, youth and precocious literary debut to the triumphs of his best-known books and on through his spiral into depression, Reading My Father portrays the epic sweep of an American artist’s life, offering a ringside seat on a great literary generation’s friendships and their dramas. It is also a tale of filial love, beautifully written, with humor, compassion, and grace.




The French-Inspired Home


Book Description

Carolyn Westbrook brings you her first-hand knowledge, acquired through years of combing French flea markets for unique treasures, of what makes a beautiful French interior. Designer and decorator Carolyn Westbrook’s love affair with all that is French inspired began long before she ever traveled to France. Growing up in the US, her Southern heritage was infused by French influences—from the chic elegance of New Orleans to the romance of southern plantation houses. Subsequent travels to France filled her with a passion that has influenced her designs and interiors ever since and “The French Inspired” has become her own signature style. Immerse yourself in her own beautiful plantation house, a sleek urban apartment, or a classically elegant town house. Each home featured has its own distinctive style, but all are essentially “French” in their inspiration, whether it comes from a distressed, gilded carved mirror, or a faded, frayed rug that exudes age in just the right places and could never be purchased from a department store. Carolyn Westbrook prides herself on these French-inspired interiors that are classic and timeless but never stuffy. These interiors are not about the latest trends, but meant to inspire longevity and a true romance with your own home. The French have mastered the art of this time-worn yet sophisticated style of living, and you too will fall in love with the colors, the textures, and the inspiration that is truly French.