Calling Major Tom


Book Description

'I loved everything about it.' Goodreads 'This book made me laugh, cry, giggle and gasp.' Goodreads 'One of my favourite books of the year. Charming and very sweet.' Goodreads ********************** Heartwarming eBook bestseller - the perfect read for anyone who enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Together, A Man Called Ove and Matt Haig. ********************** Forty-something Thomas is very happy to be on his own, far away from other people and their problems. But beneath his grumpy exterior lies a story and a sadness that is familiar to us all. And he's about to encounter a family who will change his view of the world... for good. ********************** AS FEATURED IN THE GUARDIAN, THE FEEL-GOOD MUST-READ FOR 2018 'Must read' Daily Express 'Utterly irresistible' Sunday Mirror 'Funny, moving, sweetly life-affirming tale' Sunday Express ********************** 'Sheer joy.' Lucy Diamond 'Exactly what everyone needs right now.' Rachel Lucas 'I adored this book!' Ruth Hogan, The Keeper of Lost Things 'A much-needed antidote for these worrying times.' Julie Cohen 'A moving, funny, absorbing hot chocolate of a story.' Daniela Sacerdoti ********************** What other readers are saying about Calling Major Tom: 'Full and rich characters with all touching my heartstrings. Laughed and cried out loud.' Goodreads 'Oh my goodness, I loved this book so much. It made me laugh and cry, then laugh and cry even more.' Goodreads 'I loved this book. All the characters were lovable, charming and for some my heart broke into pieces.' Goodreads 'This was a lovely read with brilliant characters. I loved Tom. Made me laugh and cry. A lovely pick me up read. I loved the ending too. 5*' Goodreads




To Major Tom


Book Description

A meditation on the relationship between pop star and pop fan, this intriguing and thoroughly entertaining epistolary novel tracks a 30-year, one-way correspondence from devoted music fan Gary to rock icon David Bowie. Beginning as an angst-ridden teenager, Gary writes letters to Bowie, sharing his thoughts on everything from Ziggy Stardust and Glass Spiders to his boarding school days and adult life as a husband and father.




Major Tom's War


Book Description

The discovery within a family archive of a hidden document containing a dark secret led author Vee Walker to spend ten years unravelling the unlikely yet true love story of her grandparents, Evie and Tom Westmacott. Set during the Great War and spanning events in India, England, Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and France, this genre-defying epic weaves together a stirring and intricate plot full of memorable characters with intertwining destinies: the author's grandfather Tom, the proud and damaged cavalry officer; his nurse and reluctant bride, Evie; Tom's vicious Highland soldier-laird nemesis, Lochdubh; Amar Singh, the steadfast senior Sikh cavalry officer; Tom's protector, Harnam Singh; the reckless yet terrified young lieutenant, Reggie Durand; Gaston Derome, the hero mayor of Bavay, a French town clinging to survival under the heel of the invader; and four unforgettable horses. The real-life strands of their lives twist together ever more tightly until they reach an unforgettable and uplifting climax. No ordinary work of fiction, Major Tom’s War is a novel to hand down through time, as each generation attempts to make sense of the First World War: a book to savour, to share and to cherish.




Strange Stars


Book Description

A Hugo Award-winning author and music journalist explores the weird and wild story of when rock ’n’ roll met the sci-fi world of the 1970s As the 1960s drew to a close, and mankind trained its telescopes on other worlds, old conventions gave way to a new kind of hedonistic freedom that celebrated sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll. Derided as nerdy or dismissed as fluff, science fiction rarely gets credit for its catalyzing effect on this revolution. In Strange Stars, Jason Heller recasts sci-fi and pop music as parallel cultural forces that depended on one another to expand the horizons of books, music, and out-of-this-world imagery. In doing so, he presents a whole generation of revered musicians as the sci-fi-obsessed conjurers they really were: from Sun Ra lecturing on the black man in the cosmos, to Pink Floyd jamming live over the broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing; from a wave of Star Wars disco chart toppers and synthesiser-wielding post-punks, to Jimi Hendrix distilling the “purplish haze” he discovered in a pulp novel into psychedelic song. Of course, the whole scene was led by David Bowie, who hid in the balcony of a movie theater to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, and came out a changed man… If today’s culture of Comic Con fanatics, superhero blockbusters, and classic sci-fi reboots has us thinking that the nerds have won at last, Strange Stars brings to life an era of unparalleled and unearthly creativity—in magazines, novels, films, records, and concerts—to point out that the nerds have been winning all along.




Research Anthology on Reliability and Safety in Aviation Systems, Spacecraft, and Air Transport


Book Description

As with other transportation methods, safety issues in aircraft can result in a total loss of life. Recently, the air transport industry has come under immense scrutiny after several deaths occurred due to aircraft design and airlines that allowed improperly inspected aircraft to fly. Spacecraft too have found errors in system software that could lead to catastrophic failure. It is imperative that the aviation and aerospace industries continue to revise and refine safety protocols from the construction and design of aircraft, to secure and improve aviation systems, and to test and inspect aircraft. The Research Anthology on Reliability and Safety in Aviation Systems, Spacecraft, and Air Transport is a vital reference source that examines the latest scholarly material on the use of adaptive and assistive technologies in aviation to establish clear guidelines for the design and implementation of such technologies to better serve the needs of both military and civilian pilots. It also covers new information technology use in aviation systems to streamline the cybersecurity, decision making, planning, and design processes within the aviation industry. Highlighting a range of topics such as air navigation systems, computer simulation, and airline operations, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for pilots, scientists, engineers, aviation operators, air traffic controllers, air crash investigators, teachers, academicians, researchers, and students.




Major Tom's Tarot of Marseilles


Book Description

Gain the tools you need to read Tarot cards from the moment you open the package! Rediscover the Royal Road of the Tarot of Marseilles with this twenty-first century adaptation. Breathing new life into the centuries-old Marseilles tradition, Major Tom updates the past by presenting beautiful, hand-drawn tarot cards, showing modern dress and attitude. Utilizing characters dressed in familiar everyday clothing, this Tarot deck invites you to learn about yourself and learn to help others. - Includes 78 original and colorful Tarot cards - Easy-to-read and interpret instruction book, including crisp and concise symbolism for cards, numbers, and suits; and quick, easy-to-understand layouts for successful spreads.




Lazarus


Book Description

"Beautiful...a last transmission from a dying star." - Time Out One of the last works completed by beloved pop icon David Bowie before his death in early 2016, the otherworldy musical Lazarus is a poignant homage to his legacy. Inspired by the 1963 novel The Man Who Fell to Earth, Lazarus weaves a thrilling rock opera from new compositions by Bowie as well as many of his classic songs.




Bowie


Book Description

Based on interviews with family members, colleagues, lovers, and the previously silent William Burroughs, this unsparing yet evenhanded biography guides the reader through the many personas, crises, and musical metamorphoses of David Bowie—also known as Davy Jones, the Laughing Gnome, Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, a drug-addled grandfather of punk, actor, art aficionado, political activist, one of rock's most resonant icons, and a totem of modern pop culture. Nowhere else is the man and musician so convincingly deconstructed and so compellingly humanized.




1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die


Book Description

A guide to music provides recommendations on one thousand recordings that represent the best in such genres as classical, jazz, rock, pop, blues, country, folk, musicals, hip-hop, and opera, with listening notes, commentary, and anecdotes about performers.




Space Oddity


Book Description

You might think this story is an intergalactic adventure filled with laser blasters, black holes, killer robots and some very weird-looking aliens. And you'd be right. But it's mostly about a boy called Jake, his dad, and an awkward truth that starts in a supermarket ...