Nigella has once again proved that she wasn't an overnight sensation that would fizzle at the hurdle of catering for the masses. Nigella, like many of us is one hell of a busy lady and what busy people don't have is much time to prepare meals.
I have been a fan of Nigella for a very long time now and this book was purchased to add to my collection of over 40 cookery boooks. And of course this book did not disappoint in the slightest.
I can recommend the Naan pizzas for parents or students on the go. And if you have a load of children in your house at the weekend (this would be ideal for teenage sleepovers) the Frittata party! The totally chocolate chip cookies are simply too yummy to explain and the hokey pokey is yum. It's ... Read More:
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Victoria Hislop has taken a passionate part of Spanish history and turned it into a disappointing and flat novel. Although the book has been well-researched, it appears to have been a hastily written and none of the characters really spring to life, especially Sonia who is rather a pathetic creature compared to her sensual mother! The use of flashbacks does not work at all and there is a complete lack of suspense. My advice - read 'Winter in Madrid' by C J Sansom.
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I am about to order this. After reading the reviews I can't wait to get my hands on this and read it cover to cover to get all 17th,ed and ready for my next NICEIC inspection. It will be great, more regs, more questions, more trying to explain to customers. I may opt (have to) to go on a course aswell which is excellent as I was wondering where to go on holiday this year. Roll on the ammendments. There may even be a prequel and some retro bonding moments to come.
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I guess Kevin J. Anderson's "The Ashes of Worlds", the final book in his "Saga of Seven Suns", is an improvement over the previous volume, "Metal Swarm", which was action-packed but predictable and not very engrossing. TAOW contains a lot more intrigue, twists and turns - but I was left wishing that some of the action from Metal Swarm had been transferred into this book. In MS there was too much action; in TAOW there was too little. There is only really one major battle in this book, and that lasts a few pages. Everything gets resolved satisfactorily, and not without drama - but the action just isn't very epic compared to what has come before. It seemed like a let-down coming from the final book of such an immense series. ... Read More:
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Dawkins writes that "the argument of this book is that we, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes" (p.xxi) and that "We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" (p.xxi). Yet, according to him, this book "is not science fiction; it is science" (p.xxi)!
Dawkins contrives to overlook the twin discoveries that:
1. the observable traits of organisms are mostly conditioned by the interactions of many genes;
2. most genes have multiple effects on many of these traits.
Dawkins transfers characteristics with which he is familiar from human behaviour on the macro-level to the inanimate components, "genes", of which we are physically constructed. ... Read More:
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Georgia Nicoleson is a distraught teenager, crushed by her love loss. Although, her friends are supporting and it's not long before she meets a new sex god. Georgia argues a lot with her best friend Jas, but she needs her friends to escape the madness of her house. Her family are interfering and an embarrassment to her.
The main character is Georgia Nicoleson. I sympathise for her, because she has quite a troubled life. She finds her family highly embarrassing and she doesn't like her friends to see them at all. She has a cat called Angus, whom is quite like a human to them, and the way that his actions are described is quite human like. Georgia's best friend, Jas, is mentioned frequently throughout and her character is ambitious and outgoing like many of ... Read More:
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Renowned Canadian artist Rachel Kelly -- now of Penzance -- has buried her past and married a gentle and loving Cornish man. Her life has been a sacrifice to both her extraordinary art and her debilitating manic depression. When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio in Penzance, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up. She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work -- but she also leaves a legacy of secrets and emotional damage it will take months to unravel. A wondrous, monstrous creature, she exerts a power that outlives her. To her children she is both curse and blessing, though they all in one way or another reap her ... Read More:
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...however as the story progresses it all gets a bit ploddy and I found myself losing interest as to whether the mystery is resolved or not.
Special Agent Will Trent and Detective Faith Mitchell are thrown together to unravel this case. Will features in 'Triptych' but in 'Fractured' Karin concentrates more on developing his character, more than one aspect of which is worked nicely in with the story. Both he and Faith are realistically written with interesting histories and mini plots of their own and and I liked their developing work relationship.
The message running through this novel is the importance of families and a feeling that you belong. Some characters having been denied a loving family, others not realising what they have until it's too late. ... Read More:
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