Studios Books

I purchased this book thinking that it would include detailed sketches and concepts for the creation of Spirited Away. While, the book did have these elements it had far fewer than one might suspect from the cover. In fact most of the art work were stills from the movie.


Which, to me came as a great disappointment. If I wanted to see the final art of the movie I would watch the movie. Buy this book if you really love the quality of the animated scenes. Don't buy this if you feel you can gain great insight into how it was made.

This book is beyond amazing! I love the "Spirited Away" movie and the art in this book is gorgeous and the screen clips are beautiful. Once I decided to purchase this I also picked up the "Spirited Away" soundtrack. This is a must have if you are a true Miyazaki film fan or even just a big fan of the movie itself!

It's Hayao Miyazaki again. What can I say. One of the most amazing animated film ever. And book explores so much of the movie. Amazing learning and reference book. Every animation/comic lover must have it.

The reson why I purchased this book is because of the art inside. It brought me back to the movie Spirited Away.. I ordered the book with a hardcover.. That's nice to have. The product is such fine quality. I am proud to have it and share the Art of Miyazaki with others. I know more about Miyazaki after purchasing this book.

i dont know what to say aside from the fact that miyazakisan is an incredible artist/storyboard creator. and bravo to everyone at studio ghibli

This is a re-order. I've been using this wonderful book as a gift to friends who have lost loved ones for some time and it is always appreciated. I work at Lighthouse Hospice, Inc. and we are currently reviewing The Gift of a Memory to be used as a gift for the families going through the grief process.

This is a great book for those who have lost a loved one. I have given many of these to friends.

This is a beautifully illustrated book with a comforting message. I have given it often when someone has lost a loved one and it is always appreciated. Recommend it highly.

For anyone who has lost a loved one this book will be a lasting treasure to help with the grief. It brings help for the sorrowful heart and reassurance for the tearful soul.

I have given this book to several people, after having received it after my sister passed away. It is so comforting and the pictures are just beautiful. I can't say enough about this book. Everyone I have given it to has truly loved every page.

This is probably the best book that explains what "STORYBOOK STYLE ARCHITECTURE" actually is.

Before I purchased this book, I had a slight idea of what "storybook style" might be, however, after buying this book and seeing the photos, I now know better what this style is all about.

The descriptions in the "Introduction" are very worthwhile because the author attempts to describe where this style came from and how it evolved.

The photos, of course , speak a thousand words, because they actually show what "storybook style" actually is.


Living in Puget Sound, we just don't see too many "storybook style" homes out here, so it was just wonderful to find a book in which this interesting style of architecture was explained and shown (ie: mainly in California).

Although, we do see many "TUDOR STYLE" homes out here in the Northern Pacific Northwest, we do,however, not see any "storybook homes". Thus, it was actually nice to find a book that explains the difference between Tudor and Storybook Architecture.

Formally trained architects may not view this "storybook style" as an architectural style per se, however, the author of this book explains how Hollywood influenced this style greatly, and how eventually it became a "style" that was different from the actual Tudor style. As stated before in my previous statements: photos speak a thousand words.

This book offered plenty of ideas in my restoration and planning process of my tudor home. Great buy for the $$$

Having grown up in Southern California in the 50 and 60's I fell in love with the storybook house and my grand aspiration was to at least live in one if not own one.
My dream almost came true because in the 60's many Orange County houses were built with storybook features; diamond pane windows, shake roofs, cat slides - they weren't as wonderful as the masonary models, but, still fun. Unfortunately, these house were updated with asbestos shingle roofs, the windows were removed for double pane. The character was diminished, but not completely lost. You can still see these houses in Anaheim in the neighborhoods surrounding Disneyland. What a perfect setting for a fairytale style.
And I recommend this book as a nostalgic look back and a real joy to read.

I received this as a Christmas gift and promptly took it to Christmas dinner that night... the entire family enjoyed flipping through the book (and were eager to buy their own copies). Beautiful pictures of unique and gorgeous homes, with some neat historical/factual information to boot. My favorite homestyle. The pictures gave me great ideas for my own cottage home.

A BEAUTIFUL LOOK AT WHIMSICAL HOMES FOR THE YOUNG AT HEART - THE BEST I'VE SEEN ON THE SUBJECT -

This book is a quick way to get up to speed on C# 2.0. Highly recommended for developers new to 2.0. My only complaint is that it neglected to mention the new SqlBulkCopy class, an important addition to ADO.Net.

I've had this book for almost two years now, and I consider it (along with Liberty's classic "Programming C#" [I have both first and second editions]) one of the most useful books for helping me move from "beginner level" C# to "journeyman" mastery of what has become my favorite language and daily working tool of choice.

Liberty's books join with my books by Sells, Petzold, Gunnerson, Archer on that small shelf ... within arms reach ... which I consider essential tools to have as I work in Visual Studio.

What I find unique about "A Developer's Notebook" is :

1. Content : the sheer amount of immediately useful information and code samples. This is a book, imho, for people who've already reached initial mastery of .NET, and are ready for intermediate-advanced topics. There's more technical content, more information, "per square page" in this book than in many books on .NET and C# that are 800+ page "whoppers" :) And I do have the sense that every bit of code in this book has been "refined" to the efficient minimum without losing its "educational punch."

2. Book Design : imho the design and structure of the book are a "tour de force" of technical book design : it's in the form ... almost ... of a laboratory workbook; the "asides," or comments, in italic script font in the margin of the pages add a very useful commentary that evokes and provokes thought.

3. Immediacy : I get the feeling that Jesse is right there talking to me as he takes me through the intricacies of IEnumerable, Generic Interfaces, Delegate Covariance. Very good terse introductions to technologies like ClickOnce.

4. Technical Format : the book has a format of presenting a concept concisely, outlining the structure of the classes or methods involved, describing a practical usage scenario, and then, in a section titled "How Can I Do That ?," presenting a key code example that demonstrates the technique in use. I find this similar to what I perceive as the "experimental" method in Petzold's books, and, for me, this is a compelling way to learn.

4. Writing Style : As in JL's other books, I personally experience him as one of the clearest writers of technical expository prose I have ever read. In sections typically titled "What About," or "How Can I Learn More," for each major topic, he succinctly addresses questions that imho any intelligent developer might be asking about the limits or side-effects ... or the "gotchas" ... of the techniques presented.

I like to compare learning a programming language with learning a musical instrument. It seems to me that initial mastery of C#, like learning to play the guitar, involves a required period of just learning the general way you use the tools (the Visual Studio environment, the .NET compiler, assemblies, WinForms, Classes, Interfaces, UserControls) : until you have that initial "vocabulary," imho, you can't really "play a tune." But once you do have the initial comfort level and mastery of the tools, you are ready to start with studying simple "Etudes" which are designed to be musically satisfying in themeselves and, at the same time, help you progress in mastery. Using that analogy, I consider "A Developer's Notebook" a book of "Etudes," an excellent one !

In summary : this is one of the best technical books I've ever read. I do hope that at some point JL will do another book in this format, and structure, probing, in the same "experimental method" other topics in .NET 3.0 and 3.5 like LINQ, sophisticated uses of AppDomains and Contexts, the ability in WPF to get WinForms controls across domains, etc.

best, Bill Woodruff
dotScience

I purchased this book to get prepped for 2.0 development. As usual , Jesse delivered with additional benifits. He is a great, clear speaking, author. I needed the facts and he delivered.

Well worth owning for those of you transitioning from 1.1 to 2.0.

This is a very good "delta" book for moving to 2.0. It doesn't spend a lot of time with "object oriented programming began in 19..."-type gibberish. Instead it moves directly to some of the new features and talks to you like you know what your talking about.

Easy read.

However, the introduction says something to the effect of "this series skips the 'hello world' applications and is instead the often frantic scribblings of real developers performing real tasks" or something like that. In reality, none of the examples was terribly realistic. It was the same type of examples and 'hello world' demonstrations you would find in any other book. And the "scribblings" in the margins were often just pullouts from the text--just like any other book.

Overall - good book. But the marketing hype for the series is just that--hype.

I just borrowed this book from the library as I'm trying to cut down and only buy true reference books. I didn't have a whole lot of expectations, but this book was exactly what the doctor ordered. I knew C# for VS.NET 1.1 and am gradually migrating to 2.0 and all of it's extra features. I just wanted a book that covered the new stuff... and could come as close to just injecting the information into my brain without all of the extra fluff. This book does exactly that. If you're new to .NET don't get this book... but if you're looking for an incremental upgrade book (as I was) that is concise, full of examples, and covers the whole spectrum of VS.NET 2.0 then this is IT! That said, the title is just a bit misleading... the first chapter is about the new C# keywords and constructs, but this book covers changes with Forms, ASP.NET (Themes, Master Pages, ...) and so forth. This books has been hard to put down and I'm seriously considering buying this one to add to my reference collection. I've learned a lot from it in just the past 24 hours.

Is the second time I order a book from amazon and I'm satisficed with the service, I live in other country and i never had a problem.

The Art of Howl's Moving Castle is a large, hardback book, and is chock full of information and pictures from the amazing movie by Hayao Miyazaki.

This book begins with hundreds of concept sketches by Miyazaki, containing location scenes and characters with notes. The concept sketches go in order of appearance from the movie, so the concept sketches for Sophie come at the beginning, for example, while the concept sketches for Human Turnip show up near the end. There are thousands of gorgeous location scenes as well plus short bios on some of the creators of the movie and a few articles that discuss the creaters' experiences working on the film. Also, at the very end is the complete final screenplay to read through. The screenplay has a few minor changes in it from where the English actors improvised a little (especially Billy Crystal), but otherwise, is exactly from the movie.

Being a student of film and the arts, I found this book extremely helpful and interesting, because it showed the creative process of a huge movie. I would definitely recommend it to any film or arts students to browse through if they wan to get an idea of what kind of work it takes to create such a monumental film!

The only qualm I have with this book is that there were hundreds of screenshots. Not that that's bad, especially if you want to buy this book to revisit the movie, but I would like to have seen a few more sketches and whatnot, or at least a few more articles on how the particular scenes with the screenshots were made.

That aside, I fell in love with this book and was enchanted from front cover to back cover.

This book opens a world of anime art like none other. Primary characters & secondary characters are carefully drawn out and walk through a world & story created for them. As a professional artist, I found great interest in the prelimiary drawings straight through the setting concepts. This is also a great book for fans of the movie. If you loved the movie, you will love this book.

I totally enjoyed the layout and discussion in this book. I have been a Miyazaki fan ever since, "My Neighbor Totoro" which I saw when I lived in Japan. If you relish animation and all the details of this art form, you'll like the format and attention this book gives.

Janine Bolon, Financial Coach, Radio Talk Show Host, author of "Money...It's Not Just for Rich People!" available on amazon. Money...It's Not Just for Rich People!

If you loved the movie, you will love this book, The Art of Howl's Moving Castle it's hard cover, with original sketches, storyboards and the final screenplay!

The book explains every step of the complex story, from the original book adaptation to the final movie. Also have quotes and articles from creators of each process (designers, art directors, supervising animators, etc.) It's like seeing the movie scene by scene with artist commentaries.

A wonderful book. I loved it as a child, and going back to read it as an adult I realize that there are a lot of things that I missed. I remember my teacher reading it aloud in class--wonderful!

The movie, although very nice, has only a superficial resemblance to the book. For one thing, it moves the time a generation or so back. For another, in the book both parents are alive, rather than Caracticus Pott's being a widower; consequently, there is no romance.

I could very well wish that a new movie be made, NOT a musical and following the original plot.

Just like when I was a kid at my moms knee listening to her read this to me I wsa again transported to another time. This audio is great. Kids and adults alike will fall inlove with this audio book. Some what diffrent than the movie staring Dick Van Dyke. which is always a welcome suprise.

It is a charming and delightful story that you will love to read to your children. I read this book to my 6 year old. She loved it!! We both wish we could find more books about this wonderful family and car.

I remember the 1968 movie based on this novel fondly, but had never picked up the novel itself until just the other day. I was surprised at how different the book is. Although Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang herself is very similar in both, the plot of the story is much different. I enjoyed this simple little story, with Fleming's humorous asides, very much. Those asides reminded me of the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books I have read and I would be interested in learning if Lemony Snicket drew from Fleming's story style for his own series. This is a fun, quick story that most kids will enjoy. I do, however, fear that the admittedly crude illustrations in my original edition would not be as popular with modern children.

The story of Caractacus Pott, his family, and that wonderful magical car is one of the best children's stories you will ever read. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, tells a fantastic story about Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the magical flying car that can even turn into a boat! It's a delightful story, filled with crooks and gangsters, and you won't be sorry you bought this fantastic little book. Should be added to every child's bookshelf. Just delightful! The book is so much better than the movie, eliminating that silly Vulgaria story. If you want to read the story Ian Fleming intended, you'll have to buy the book. You won't be sorry.

This is a sequel to "The Tao of Pug," but in a completely different format. While the prequel dealt with Wilson's philosophy, this is a straight-up Christmas tale that is sure to engage people of all ages. Whether it's the heart-wrenching story of yearning for a home and love, or the adorable and witty accompanying pictures, this book is sure to become a Christmas classic in your house. It's also a great gift idea for anyone from toddlers to grandparents!

I have fallen in love with Wilson as portrayed by Nancy Levine. I think this is another great Wilson book. (If you haven't read the other 3, you must!) Great coffee table book, great gift, great to make you smile on a down day. Heart-warming tale of rescue from a puppy mill but light-hearted with a lot of humor in the photos and Wilson's editorials. Can't miss on this or any of Nancy Levine and Wilson's books!

Homer for the Holidays is a cute book that pug (and Taoism) lovers will enjoy. It injects humor and Taoist wisdom into the story of a puppy who escaped from the puppy mill and Wilson the Pug's effort to find him a home. The photos are adorable. It makes a great holiday gift.

FIRST OF ALL I HAVE 2 GORGEOUS PUGS AND LIVE IN AUSTRALIA. I FIRST READ THE TAO OF PUG AND LOVED IT. I HAD TO THEN BUY HOMER FOR THE HOLIDAYS. THE PHOTOS ARE THE BEST IN BOTH BOOKS AND WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH SO HARD. HOMER FOR THE HOLIDAYS IS A STORY OF HOMER A LOST PUG WHO IS TRYING TO FIND A HOME WITH THE HELP OF WILSON. IT IS MORE OF A STORY THAN THE TAO OF PUG WHICH IS FUNNY INSIGHTS INTO THE LIFE OF WILSON. IT HAS A GOOD THEME BEHIND IT OF CARING FOR ANIMALS OVER PROFITS AND I THINK IT PERFECTLY CATCHES THE PERSONALITY OF THESE LITTLE ANIMALS.

"Homer For The Holidays: The Further Adventures of Wilson the Pug" is a lovable book because of the lovable pugs within this magical story. As a pug lover, of course my face will soften and my spirits will rise at the sight of the pugs in the story, but non-pug adorers will still feel the joy when the read this delightful heartwarming story that can be enjoyed in and out of the holiday season. I recommend.

I use this book at least twice a week because every dish has been a hit with the family and the dishes are so easy to prepare and healthy too. Even when I don't have all the ingredients for a recipe and I need to improvise, the dishes always turn out tasty anyway. Every recipe comes with a very appetizing picture of the finished product and several, very helpful, how-to photos. She also gives detailed descriptions of unfamiliar ingredients and photos of brands she uses. This a great beginner cookbook!

This is an art book accompanied by wonderful recipes. The photos that accompany the recipes are so beautiful!! I could taste the dishes!
It's a fantastic book for a beginner because some of the dishes are wonderful yet simple and looks do-able. But, there are dishes for more advanced cooks too.
Kylie includes a lot of step by step photo instructions like how to fold wonton, how to cut and fry tofu cubes, how to clean and score squid, etc... In this instructional aspect with the photos, she's the BEST. This book will be appreciated by all who wants to learn Chinese cooking.

I love this book! Kylie Kwong has put some fantastic fresh ideas forward that really liven up any meal. It's a great book for the beginning cook as well as the experienced, not everything is traditional and both will find something that is surprising and inspiring. I have to say that I adore the vegetable section in this book, it's fantastic.

i bought this book not sure if it was any good.the photos are excellent n the recipes are superb n easy to find frm the asian market.i would really recommend anyone who likes to cook chinese food at home.

What more could an aspiring cook of Chinese food desire? This is a beautiful book, complete with glorious photographs, easy to follow recipes and includes a menu planner.

Variety is the essence of Chinese cuisine. Fortunately variety need not mean complexity. Every recipe we've cooked from this book has been a success, and the tips and presentation are superb.

All of Ms Kwong's books are superb, but if you have to choose just one, then this would be my choice.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I recieved my book packed in great shape and in record time. I am very pleased and would buy from Bev again!! (~:

Mr. Weed is a former Rosicrucian Grand Councilor who has written other, less pithy books as well. His "A Rosicrucian Speaks" is very different & IMHO far less valuable than this masterwork. I believe Mr. Weed was strongly criticized by AMORC for publishing this book which succinctly reveals much private information that Rosicrucian students receive over years of study & practice--it was felt that people were not ready to receive this information in such a condensed format-- p. 167: "The unknown is always discovered through the known. This is the way we learn." In accordance with Mr. Weed's several warnings, beware of delving too swiftly into these practices. As he states, p. 123: "Energy that is built up demands release, & if we do not open doors for it & guide it in the proper direction it is likely to break out in an undesirable way." Patience & a step-by-step approach is strongly recommended. Some of the teachings in this book, though based on Rosicrucian principles, are specific to Mr. Weed, but this does not detract from them as he was an accomplished Rosicrucian. Topics in the book include: harmonium, karma, reincarnation, types of energy, thought, healing, the cycles of life, prayer, telepathy, developing psychic ability, & psychic projection. I agree that many people could be successful in such practices. Whether people are ready is another story. Still, if you find this book & really practice these techniques as given, you are probably ready. I would also recommend reading the works of H. Spencer Lewis, former Imperator of AMORC, for further information, esp. on "The Cycles of Life." For more on Rosicrucian philosophy, see the works of his son, Ralph M. Lewis.

This book is written in a concise, yet easily readable style with many experiments/exercises. I notice many parallels with Tibetan Buddhism herein. For example: p. 6: "From the very beginning you must learn to be more aware, not less so" & p. 168: "Energy flows from you to whatever you direct your attention [kavvanah]. We can also turn our attention to Great Beings that do not ordinarily manifest in physical form & from them receive a corresponding return of high grade energy which will stimulate & rejuvenate us in every way, physical, mental, & spiritual." This reminds me of Kabbalistic kavvanah (intention) as well as Tibetan Buddhist guru/deity yoga. For the right student, this is a great book. Even for an accomplished Rosicrucian, it's a wonderful refresher. It is NOT a new age book, but is, rather, based on old, tested, efficacious principles.

I read a friend's copy of this book and was so impressed I had to own my own. I've seen some of these principles before, but it is laid out very concisely and easy to handle. I love the "homework" problems which bring it out of theory and into your day-to-day life. Two thumbs up to Joseph Wood.

Very good book, many of the reviewers have already stated what I would say as well. One thing I would like to mention, is this book contains exercizes for developing one's psychic abilities, and although one may find them a bit out of the ordinary from what they hear today, Mr. Weed is very reputable and his words can be trusted.

Being a neophyte myself, it takes a leap of faith to fully embrace the ideas Weed presents in his book. For instance, he talks about using the power of thought to control your destiny and sending/ receiving telephathic messages. Such ideas defy reasoned thinking, so in a way its almost delusional to accept everything at face value. I've tried to keep and open mind yet proceed with caution.

Believe me, I would love to surrender my skepticism. But, instead I have chosen the hypothesize, test, and evaluate what Weed has to say.

With that said, I am entirely fascinated by the idea of studying one's own thinking process in the techniques he has provided.

The writing style is concise and easily understandable. Well written!

The only thing that could have made this book more enjoyable was if it listed an index of all the meditation techniques. This is because Weed includes them within his writing. As you begin reading you may want to jot down a list of all the practical techniques as you go (at least the page numbers).

Its hard to describe but the meditation techniqes Weed provides for releasing positive and negative energy really worked (for me). Also, they were easy to do. I really feel its a strategy that will help one control his/her emotions and bring them to a steady equilibrium (harmonium). I have to give Mr. Weed credit here. Chapter 1, How to Understand Yourself and Attain Harmonium really worked! Though, I suggest you decide for yourself.


The Amazon testimonial for this book is gimmicky and the same one that appears on the back cover of this book. It promises wealth, power and happiness! Weed's own writing doesn't quite match that tone. Instead he provides compelling techniques that are easy and enjoyable to work on. Wealth, power and happiness ends up being more of a side-benifit Weed mentions. You don't have to worry that Weed is giving you a sales pitch the whole book. He doesn't.

(You will not find a history of the AMORC or other Rosicrucian orders in this book. This book really is a self-study guide.)

In a way, I almost suspected a slight sales campaign for the AMORC in this book. To paraphrase, he often makes the comment "only students of the AMORC will have full access to the monographs that teach this [or that] lesson." What I mean, is there is a bit of an enticement for the reader to explore more about the AMORC. However, this may simply be my perception.

My hope here is that my review tells the skeptic "Don't worry, its ok to be skeptical and keep an open mind too." I hope what I've said is helpful.

Weeds book deserves 5 stars. Its earnest, sincere and well written.

Good Luck finding your path in life!

-AO

I love this book. Janice is inspiring and funny and the artwork is wonderful. Very cool! This book has kept me motivated as I am doing my own "permanent fat removal." It's working. Her approach is unique and completely different from "diet" books. It is inspiring and offers a new way of looking at the whole "body image" thing. I get so caught up in the fun and cool way she has of thinking about food and removing fat permanently that I am losing weight without the struggle. It is a wonderful way to think about caring for yourself. I highly recommend this book!

This is a must-read for those who want a fresh, new perspective on weight-loss and "permanent fat removal"! I recommend it all who are looking for a new way to love ones self.

I am in the middle of this book and I can't put it down. I am enjoying it so much, I just ordered her first book as well.

This is one of the best books I've read. Kept me laughing whole way through.I'm not your "typical reader" but this book I could read. Janice is such a delightful, charming Weight Loss Coach. I admire her style and just found this book to be so enjoyable. Janice Taylor, is so down to earth, and REAL, about weight loss. It's the kind of book you could read more than once. I ordered several of them and gave them to all my friends for their birthdays!! Now I just have to get them signed by Janice herself!!! Congrats to Janice for such a superb book. I commend you!! From Holly V. Long Island

Janice Taylor is simply delightful! She is cheerful, creative, and super-spirited about her work...and all of this comes across in her writing. There is no way to look at, listen to, or read Janice Taylor and be unhappy. No way! I am not on a personal quest for weight loss but "All is Forgiven", I have discovered, encompasses so much more - it's about renewing your outlook on life, your journey and, most of all, your esteem. It is the type of book that I like to take a little bite out of everyday - just for a boost of inspiration or a little yummy food for thought. The art work (graphics as well as Janice's artwork, present throughout the book) is an added boon. Even if I'm not reading, it's fun to just peruse the pictures, marvel at Janice's art, and enjoy how beautifully formatted the book is. If you are battling with your weight however, as many of us are, this book is a MUST READ before you even THINK about starting another diet! Everything about "All is Forgiven" will make you feel good, and better about what might have seemed an impossible journey to "Sveltsville." Sometimes you simply need a change of perspective :-)