For simplicity, easy to understand and beginners I think Fit for Real People by Pati Palmer is one of the best.

I have both the Palmer/Pletsch and a Rasband, autographed, no less! I have to agree with OSS, if you are just starting, get the former. Once things start to make sense, get the latter.

I will also recommend making a toile of a basic garment, marking CF, CB, Bust, Waist, Hips etc. to visualize WHERE your body typically varies from the standard.

I love Burda and EU pattern magazines because they give so many measurements! Something the US Big4 and/or Indies can't seem to figure out yet.

It can be helpful to get the free preview before ordering so you can see shapes and rough measurements. I have even compared a standard size against my personalized size against my ProFit size to see what's changing.
I really like ProFit, but there are some measurements that I just use the system measurements for rather than my own. After trying more than a few pattern previews, I could see what was going to give me the proper result.
Some of my measurements may have been a bit off as I had to have someone help me with them, so I figured that was probably causing at least part of the discrepancy I was seeing.

Your comments on unreliable energy supplies makes me wonder what sewing machine you use - a vintage treadle would work well for you I'm thinking, if only as a backup during interrupted supplies.

I did buy a threadle but it was a hidden charitable gesture, trying to help out someone leaving the country in a hurry. A coworker of my mother's wants to buy it but now I"m thinking I might reconsider this move.

To clarify, I have a back up energy source call an inverter. It stocks electricity in batteries and so I can use the lights, tv etc but nothing with heat (toaster, hair dryer) or a motor (refrigerator, water pump). Well, my inverter did not kick in last night and it was screaming the night before, a sign of no charge in the batteries. 

I have woken up at 4h am before to sew, just not looking forward to doing so now. Decisions, decisions...

I would make that tired bicycle analogy except...never learned how to ride a bike 

But it will all come back to you! And you will learn new tricks! I perso love to research answers for others so you can count on me.

What kind of learner are you? Do you need to think about it, watch it being done or do it first, figuring things out along the way?

I saw the thread on PR but didn't pay much attention, I admit. Then an efriend told me about being a member here. So I came over, looked around, liked what I read and here I am now!

I live in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haïti, in the Caribbean. Avid seamstress from a family of seamstresses, artists, teachers and lawyers. What this means is that I am creative, talkative and opinionated 

 I sew only garments, in part because, being only 1,53m (5ft), buying RTW is never simple. But I really enjoy it and, now that I am mastering my basic alterations more and more, I can make things that fit exactly as I want them to!

Burda fangurl with a growing interest for KnipMode but also a Big4 pattern stash thanks to some key enablers in the US. I love natural fibers (despite current, questionable obsession with viscose/rayon/tencel/cupro etc.) but knits don't require ironing and my country is plagued with energy problems.

(Well, now that the dry season has started, I am sewing and wearing only breathable fabrics...)

I hope to have a lot of fun with you guys. One of my specialties over at PR was finding patterns for people. I choose my projects based on the line drawings and I guess I memorized a lot of them  And since I work in Education (two jobs!), I can research the shit out of anything. #overthinker. Let the good times roll!