Apartment Life Blog

Design For Living The Paris Apartment

Design For Living The Paris Apartment

Kimberley takes a seductive tour of Paris apartment life. She begins in the fashionable Marais district, where pure modern design is showcased in the loft-like apartment of contemporary furniture designer Didier Gomez. Kimberley gets a lesson in collecting and displaying black and white photography, a staple in every Paris apartment. Kimberley visits a stunning apartment that mixes industrial finishes with primitive possessions. The treasure-filled apartment of antiques dealer Benjamin Steinitz offers a lesson in eclectic decorating. In Worth the Splurge, gather tips on purchasing and displaying original art. Then Kimberleys own dining room-library gets a dramatic makeover with a French accent.

Breathing new life into the world of design, Design For Living mixes style, history and a few basic principles with a certain magical quality. The result is a whirlwind international tour, showcasing opulent, innovative and simply delightful homes. Whether visiting a grand chateau or marveling at funky flea market finds, host Kimberly Seldon makes interior design and decorating less confusing - and lots of fun.

Design destinations include Paris, Rome, New York City, South Carolina and Singapore; and guests like Bill Clinton and Erin Brockovich add a bit of celebrity spice to the series. Each episode has a theme, ranging from European Formal, where European high style is on display at the world-renowned house of Christofle, to Roman Splendour, an unforgettable tour of the Eternal Citys noble history of design and architecture.

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The World According to Bertie

The World According to Bertie

The latest completely charming installment in the bestselling 44 Scotland Street series.

There is never a quiet moment on 44 Scotland Street. In The World According to Bertie, Pat deals with the reappearance of Bruce, which has her heart skipping—and not in a pleasant way. Angus Lordie’s dog Cyril has been taken away by the authorities, accused of being a serial biter. Unexpectedly, Domenica has offered to help free him. As usual, Big Lou is still looking for love, and handing out coffee and advice to the always contemplative Matthew. And Bertie, the beleaguered Italian-speaking six year old prodigy, now has a little brother, Ulysses, who Bertie hopes will help distract his pushy mother Irene.

Beautifully observed, cleverly detailed, The World According to Bertie is classic McCall Smith and a treat for his avid fans as well as his first time readers.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars A book full of diverse characters and wonderful stories
This is the fourth installment of Smith’s 44 Scotland Street series. 44 Scotland Street takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The title character, Bertie, is a 6-year-old boy who is growing very weary of his mother’s mindset. Bertie continually tries to come up with ways to persuade his mother to let him be and focus more on his new baby brother,

Ulysses. If you have read the previous three installments of the 44 Scotland Street series, you will be thrilled to read about what has transpired in Bertie’s life recently. The nice thing about reading a series is that, with each book, you feel more and more like you know the people you are reading about. You will enjoy not only reading about Bertie you will enjoy finding out all the “happenings and goings on” of the other residents of Scotland Street. Smith has once again given us a book full of diverse characters and wonderful stories.

Reviewed by Terri Boggs

3 Stars Characters
Alexander McCall Smith continues his delightful Scotland Street series with an enjoyable book titled, The World According to Bertie. The cast of characters familiar to fans returns, and their relationships continue to mature. What Smith does so well is bring a character to life, place the character in everyday situations, and allow the action to help readers come to know and love the character. Bertie is a character who tugs at your heart. No matter what your relationship has been with your own parents, you will wince at the challenges this 6-year-old faces, especially at the direction of his mother, Irene. Some of the Scotland Street neighbors know each other better than others, and readers will recognize personality types found in every neighborhood. Part of the pleasure in this series entails the insights that Smith allows the characters to uncover in the course of their ordinary lives. If you’ve not read the earlier books in this series, don’t be put off at all. You can start here and be quite satisfied. After reading The World According to Bertie, you may want to go back and read the others.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

5 Stars Pure enjoyment
Alexander McCall Smith has an amazing gift for writing readable prose. His books are artfully written and always sprinkled with lucid insights. And, as usual with this series, there is a lot of very enjoyable, gentle humor. To start one of his novels is to finish it within a matter of days. In fact, my wife and I always regret the speed with which we consume his books.

If you are looking for pure reading enjoyment I highly recommend The World According to Bertie, the latest 44 Scotland Street novel.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

This book continues the adventures of Bertie the precocious and hilarious saxophone playing six-year-old. It also continues the story lines of the other characters in the previous three books. Although the Bertie story didn’t reach a full conclusion (as I hope it doesn’t for quite some time), Alexander McCall Smith did lay the groundwork for what I am sure will be an incredibly hilarious adventure in the next book.

There is a lot of budding romance in this novel which makes the stories a lot of fun. Especially the story involving Matthew and his sometimes girlfriend Pat, as well as the irrepressible Bruce and his newest interest.

FINAL ANALYSIS

While not as funny as Love Over Scotland (which so far is the best of the four) it is nevertheless extremely enjoyable and I look forward to reading many more books in the series.

5 Stars More Wisdom from Bertie
In the wonderful world created by Smith in the Scotland Street books, little Bertie never ages beyond 6. Bertie is one of the characters residing in Edinburgh, Scotland. Many of the familiar unhappy characters of previous Scotland Street stories are there, behaving in earnest, charming, or quirky ways. Bertie has a new baby brother whom he resents. In his innocent way, Bertie gets a bit of revenge against his martinet mother. You feel sympathy for Bertie’s Dad, who tries hard to spend quality time with his son. This volume is hilarious, engaging and fast reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Smith’s other Scotland Street books. He paints vivid scenes and well-defined charaters in a setting that seems so real and intimate. One can catch a whiff of the smells, sights, sounds and tastes of living in Edinburgh in all of his books in the Isabel Dalhoussie series. It makes you want to walk right into a scene and enjoy coffee at a cafe in Old Town.

4 Stars Yet Another Wonderful Book From AMS
I guess I’m joining the Bertie fan club. Since AMS has been publishing his series of books, from the German professor stories to the Isabel Dahlousie novels, I’ve enjoyed reading about the adventures of his characters. Bertie definitely tops my list of the 44 Scotland Street folks.

While I’m not that interested in the storyline of Pat and Bruce, I was happy that Matthew’s story was broadened. I don’t want to give anything away because fans should enjoy the experience for themselves, but suffice to say that Bertie’s adventures rival those of his trip to Paris.

Definitely another novel those who read the series should buy or borrow. It’s an improvement on the last.

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