Design Books

A quarter of a century ago, when Prince Charles first spoke publicly about his belief in organic gardening and farming principles, he was dismissed as a tree-hugging eccentric that walked around talking to his plants. Twenty-five years on, he's considered an ecological visionary. His personal life may be somewhat controversial, but the garden is one place he gets it right (if only he could relate to people as well as he relates to his plants). In The Elements of Organic Gardening, published in the U.S. today by Kales Press, The Prince of Wales shares the sustainable growing methods he's used in his own gardens at Highgrove, Birkhall and Clarence House.

The book covers the time-honored principles of composting, crop rotation and water conservation that we've ignored for too long at our own peril. In a modest, personable style, Charles talks about his use of ducks and birds to naturally control pests such a slugs and snails, and the use of natural insecticides made from garlic extract to control bugs. He shares his ideas on the virtues of seasonal planting to work with nature's calendar rather then against it (Do we really need strawberries all year round?), and extols the traditional values of husbandry -- the care and cultivation of resources as well as crops -- since you can't have one without the other.

As you travel through the pages, the heir to the English throne gives an intimate tour of each individual area of his extensive Highgrove gardens; The Productive Gardens, where rare heirloom varieties of fruit and veg provide vivid flavors, and The Ornamental Gardens, where planting provides food for the soul. We stroll with Charles on his don't-call-it-a-lawn, flat, strictly non-monoculture, mossy green lawn-type areas, which are made up of a myriad green plants and what some might term weeds (what is a weed but something different that dares to stick its head above the uniform?). Precisely manicured and mown, with stripes that would make any Englishman proud, these areas perhaps illustrate best that fact that you don't have to compromise to go organic. Don't mistake this for a dry gardening tome, whether you're a royalist or a republican, whether you have an acre or a plant pot to play with, this holistic approach to gardening -- and ultimately life -- makes for an invigorating philosophical read.

I loved the earlier book on Highgrove and gave it the highest review. It's interesting to see this updated version, complete with delightful pictures of Charles and Camilla looking relaxed and happy. This book translates well for even the "small yard" gardener as there are a lot of tips. It is admitted that the Highgrove grass isn't really grass at all--just a wildflower meadow that's very closely clipped. It isn't fertilized or watered either (though the pictures don't show that--it would have been helpful and inspiration for the book to come clean by showing us the royal dried up lawn during a (rarely) hot English summer.) This book also is fun to compare to the earlier book, where one can see some of the new plantings (including the black and white garden) as they mature. There are also many other clever features in the garden, including the "green man" made of greens. There is inspiration for a novice gardener, and for organic gardeners there is a lot of useful information.

Excellent book very well put together along with it's great pictures.One of my favorite books in my library.

Excellent book on organic gardening. Readable for beginners and masters. Shows what can be done with our natural process. Beautiful pictures.

This most recent summary of Prince Charles's organic approach to farming and gardening at Highgrove follows two earlier efforts. The previous books are well-written and have wonderful photographs and the present effort, The Elements of Organic Gardening, is equally well thought out and beautifully presented. Twenty years ago, the Prince was thought to be an eccentric with naive and impractical ideas about conservation and an organic approach to living. The Elements of Organic Gardening presents tangible evidence that the Prince has accomplished a great deal in the last twenty years at Highgrove, his country estate and set a standard that puts him in the forefront of where we should be heading.

This book is so wonderful, now everyone an see how fresh flowers can enhance your life and your surroundings.

Thanks Elton for allowing us into your home.

Magnolia Village Florist
Seattle, WA

This book has awesome pictures of Elton John's homes, it focuses on the flowers in his houses. This book would be great to put on a coffe table, and a must for an Elton fan. I highly recommend it!

Excellent pictorial of an extravagant livestyle! Hard to belive, though, that there is a gross misprint on page 16-- the lyrics from "Your Song" are attributed to "Mona Lisa & Mad Hatters"! Oops!

Wow ... "amazing" is the best word I can come up with! I have been looking at decorating books for about a year since I bought my dream house. I stumbled upon this book, and have since bought copies for my Mom, my in-laws, my best friend, my gardeners, my designer, ...! I guess I am now their best customer! I plan to give a copy to my designer and say "Here, do this!"

Need I say more?

Elton John is an aristocrat, not only because the Queen said so. He demonstrates this in every day life, in the way he admits his weaknesses, in his involvement for beautiful causes. His house on French Riviera is a jewell. It's almost "too much". But "too much" is never enough for Elton. Thanks to the great pictures from this book you will discover a yellow castle between blue sky, deep blue sea and green grass. White structure of the house creates a contrast with blue, green and yellow. These colours could have been chosen by David Hockney. Original style of this house was respected. Flowers are every where. Furniture is on line with the overall "villegiature" style. Don't dream "too much", this "Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat" life-style has a price. But who talked about money, here? Not Elton, for sure. This is, again, a demonstration of the noble qualities of that man. Never in the whole book, you will find any decoration detail that could make you think it is here to impress people or to demonstrate power. What a paradox! this modern excentric, in the tradition on XVIIIth century english excentricity, never looks arrogant. None of his crazy demonstrations of "luxe" make you feel bad. The Atlanta house is more interesting because of the beautiful furniture and made to order closets for collections of ... everything. This book is a tribute to pleasure, good taste (yes!) and high-life. I learned this word from Johnny Weissmuller in Acapulco (pie de la cuesta beach), just before he died. I think it is quite appropriate to describe what these houses are made for.

Berliner's book is delightful and packed with useful knowledge. I have read this book twice and used what I learned; it really made changes in my home and office. I highly recommed it.

A must-read for anyone interested in how powerfully design influences our lives. I hope the author will follow up with another book illustrated by many examples and plenty of before-and-after photos.

A must-read for anyone interested in how powerfully design influences our lives. I hope the author will follow up with another book illustrated by many examples and plenty of before-and-after photos.

"The easy and exhilarating emphasis of the text explains how to realign your home with the basic forces of nature: heaven and earth, the four directions, and elemental energies.... It's a book feng shui has been waiting for." Dennis Fairchild. Feng Shui for Modern Living magazine, UK

Enlightened By Design is great. I have another on Feng Shui but it's too esoteric -- this one is much more accessible. I like the way she incorporates many different traditions. Just very happy to have it.

Other reviewers have done a good job of describing this and I agree with them. I'll just add that this wonderfully illustrated book really brought the memories flooding back.

Eric Sloane is known to many of us who love traditional country things as the superb and prolific American artist and author who gave us books with good words and even better drawings. Sloane was an accidental historian of that era of American life when agriculture was king. I cherish my copies of his A Museum of Early American Tools and A Reverence For Wood.

The Age of Barns was first published in 1967. I saw this 2001 version lying on a table in a friend's house and begged to borrow it. The sub-title is An Illustrated Review of Classic Barn Styles and Construction. It is more than that as it also shows silos, root cellars, springhouses, sugarhouses, corn cribs and smoke houses. Also shown are tools of barn builders, construction methods, types of ventilation systems and even hinge design.

Sloane shows the evolution of this most important structure with examples large and small and from many places. Medieval, English, German, American barns. Small and large log barns. The Appalachian overhung-loft barn built on two cribs, decorated Pennsylvania barns, a Georgia barn, a Maine barn, a Tennessee saltbox barn. Pent roofs, gambrel roofs, extended bays, threshing bays. Connecting barns, built so the farmer could do a winter day's chores without going outside.

I have known two barns intimately. The barn on our Wisconsin farm was a classic two-story bank barn built of stone on the lower level with hand-hewn posts and beams above, a cupola topping it off. The farmer whose death allowed my parents to buy the farm had been an alfalfa producer so the barn had huge mows that were filled both from the outside using a hay hook and from the inside where teams and wagons were taken straight in and through. The dairy herd was housed in the lower section next to the sixteen-foot silo. I pulled a lot of, um, teats in that barn.

The humble hillbilly barn at Heartwood in Missouri has two sections separated by a drive-through. In barns this design is called double-crib; in houses it is called a dog-trot. The construction is of hewn oak logs with half-dovetail corners. The logs are held off the ground only with loose stones, so early deterioration was inevitable. When the barn was still in pretty good shape we took a family photo one Fourth of July. My cousin and I hung the huge American flag that was hand-sewn by a grandmother for Lincoln's inauguration and we all posed in front of it on the ground.

Born in 1905, Eric Sloane died in 1985, walking to a luncheon in his honor celebrating his memoir, Eighty: An American Souvenir. His fine books will live on long after him, a legacy of focus and craftsmanship.

Sloane's books capture the romanticism of the past better than any picture books, and that is certainly true for his An Age of Barns. The beautiful line drawings range from evocative perspectives to working sections, giving you a good idea of how these barns worked. There are Shaker round barns, traditional gambrel barns, Amish barn raisings and a wide variety of outbuildings associated with the early American farmstead. He lovingly focuses on hinge details, stairs and ventilation openings. Sloane's eye never missed a detail, and for anyone who loves old barns this is the book to get.

This has some interesting history of early barns, especially those of New England. Drawings are well done, as usual. If you are interested in barns west of the Mississippi look elsewhere.

and I understand that barn so much better now that I have read this book. Sloane gives a brief overview of the history of barns, regional types of barns, and even the tools to raise a barn. A lovely book.

I first read Henry Mitchell in the Washington Post when my husband was receiving cancer treatment at NIH in 1982, and when I realized that his columns were collected in The Essential Earthman I immediately bought a copy. I have subsequently owned (and loaned out and thus lost) two or three more copies. As each planting season arrives I remember how much I've missed reading Henry's wisdom, and I berate myself for having loaned out (and lost) those books. So for the sake of upcoming generations of gardeners (and the old hands among us), would someone please reprint this valuable book? It's a book to read in the depth of winter and the heat of summer, in a spacious country garden or a tiny city yard, for beginning gardeners and old timers with permanently-stained hands. There never has been anyone quite like Henry Mitchell on gardening, or on life, for that matter. Grouchy, opinionated, funny, informative, brutally honest--his words will never go out of style.

The two books I have read cover to cover as gardening advice and as literature are this book and Christopher Lloyd's Adventurous Gardener. I have shelves of gardening and horticultural books.
It gives you more each time you read it.

I bought this book a few years ago based on the reviews. When I got it I tore into it and was sorely disappointed. That's the reason for 4 instead of 5 stars.

Why even 4 stars you ask? Well, about a month ago, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and now I LOVE IT!

Henry Mitchell is dry - like the soil under an oak. But he's terribly warm and fuzzy once you get to know him. I write a newsletter for my local garden club and have found quote after quote that I want to use for future issues. They're not la-dee-dah quotes that speak vaguely about the lovely joys of gardening. BLAH! Rather, they're jewels that point fingers at snobby gardeners and kill-joys who scold children for picking crocuses.

This is not a "pretty picture" book. It's sort of a how-to in an essay form. But more than that, it's great writing by a wonderful author on a topic I am crazy for.

Dear Publisher...please reprint this book. I love Henry Mitchell. I was one of the 'blessed' because I actually read Mr. Mitchell's columns (both of them) for years. I live in the Washington DC area, and subscribed to the Post. Those of us who gardened locally were twice blessed because he was not only one of the best garden writers ever, he struggled with the heat, humidity, and high winds that attack us from all sides. Whenever I am in my garden I think of him. When I look at my Japanese Anemones I remember he said "Once you have them you'll always have them." There have been times when I thought for sure they were goners, but they always survived. When I see a little plant struggling under a bush, I remember him saying, "One of these days I'll have to crawl under there and pull it out." When I see a fish tank, I think of him and his horse trough. I miss him.

My original copy of "The Earthman" is in shreds. Why?

I have read (and re-read) The Earthman for more than 20 years. Every time I returned to The Earthman, I had a patient, passionate teacher by my side.

With Henry's guidance, I matured. I learned to accept the rains that turned my garden into a sea of mud. I learned to accept the dogs who had a deep need to explore and "investigate" my treasured plants.

Henry is my friend and mentor. I cannot imagine life in the garden without him.

Whether you're a landscape designer or hands-on gardener, this is an excellent step-by-step workbook. There are many such guidebooks on the market but this is the most comprehensive. It's packed with sketches to illustrate each point the author makes and offers a space-planning system for anyone suffering moments of 'writer's block.' Having worked as a landscape desginer for many years, I pick up this book regularly and rediscover something new each time.

I have been looking for a garden design book for some time that would be heavy on how to lay out the design professionally on paper. This book goes through the progression of the design process and shows each step in the process. It has been extremely helpful in my designing of a three acre property.

I am using this book as a textbook for a Garden Design class. I have several years of garden design experience and have many more years of gardening experience. This book explains the design process in an easy to understand and inspiring way. I have found that it addresses planting and design in subtley different ways that jog my mind to be more creative. It is well written, well designed and very informative.

I moved into a new house and needed to do something with the landscaping. It is a mess. I cannot afford to hire a professional, so I bought this book hoping it would help me come up with a plan on my own. I haven't finished the book yet, but am finding it very helpful. It is more like a text book on how to draw up a garden plan, aimed at professionals, but it isn't overly technical and is fairly informative. I would have given it 5 five stars except that I am not very artistic, and I wish the book had more info to help me in that regard.

This book covers all phases of garden design, from original research, obtaining the owner's requirements, site survey sketch, checklist and inventory, to conceptual diagrams, presentation plans, theme plan, preliminary garden layout plan and final planting plans.

It discusses space, light, proportion and scale, color plates, ground plane, vertical plane, overhead plane, materials, texture, principles of planting design, planting styles, practical considerations, seasonal effects, and rendering techniques for various plans. It also has a plant list and plant hardiness zones at the end. This is one of few books that actually discuss the design aspect of gardens / landscaping. Very practical!

A wonderful book...big designs (not to complicated) gives enough room for coloring paterns...just be careful with the markers, pages are thin and colors go through it(luckly there is one design per page only)...have fun.

I recently discovered the Mandala and being the inquisitive person that I am I decided to try my hand at creating my own. This is just one of the coloring books I orderd by this author. Very enjoyable!

Author, artist, transpersonal psychotherapist and business person all describe what Monique Mandali is, but do not tell you who she is. I've been privileged to meet Monique and I know that she is a seeker traveling her path. Her walking stick is her love for all, especially children. Ms. Mandali offers a series of four coloring books for children and adults. There are three different delights in the original Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book series, each consisting of 22 designs. While the original three books in the series contain designs by the author, the latest (and perhaps greatest) has 25 peace mandalas from children all around the world. The Peace Mandala Coloring Book is very special because the mandalas are designed by children unencumbered by the pressure of adult living. Further, they bring a variety of spiritual as well as geographical cultures to bear.

Monique Mandali has given us something special. Not only do we find drawings to color that can aid in health and serenity...Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book Series is additionally special because they represent the best part of Monique Mandali, her love!

I purchased the whole series. At times different forms call for my attention and the additional selection is definitely appreciated. The variety is quite good. They range from simpler to complex, with open spaces which leave room for my own variations. The author's designs seem to create a sacred space in which the individual's own light can shine, even if all they want to do is simply "color" a bit. I would expect this flexibility to make them accessible to people with widely varying skills: children, many disabled persons, the elderly, the imaginative and the gifted artist, as well and most of us who are somewhere in between. Yet they are undemanding so that no one need miss out on the calm center and its healing.

Volume 2 of Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book has given me even more opportunities to share this wonderful, relaxing experience with friends of all ages - and to enjoy this peaceful, centering activity. Kudos to the author and creator!

This author has a series of Mandala coloring books. I have purchased them all. I am having a ball. On my date days I grab one,find my favorite spot and release the child with-in.

I have purchased many of the Mandala Designs coloring books for my mom who is 83 and in perfect health. She continues to live in her own home, drives around town and nearby towns, and is active socially with church activities.
However, there are those days when Mom gets a little down due to seasonal depression, and these coloring books are just the way to pass her time!
What lovely work! I have to admire her patience in completing each design so intricately and beautifully. I find that I'm having a difficult time keeping up with the speed at which she completes her books!
They are a great tool for aiding the young during times of bereavement, just for fun on a rainy day, the elderly who are homebound, those who ill, and anyone who loves to color!
I love to color these designs even though I have quite a busy schedule. A very relaxing hobby!
Purchase one, color it, and feel yourself relax!
Marilyn ( age 59 )

Author, artist, transpersonal psychotherapist and business person all describe what Monique Mandali is, but do not tell you who she is. I've been privileged to meet Monique and I know that she is a seeker traveling her path. Her walking stick is her love for all, especially children. Ms. Mandali offers a series of four coloring books for children and adults. There are three different delights in the original Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book series, each consisting of 22 designs. While the original three books in the series contain designs by the author, the latest (and perhaps greatest) has 25 peace mandalas from children all around the world. The Peace Mandala Coloring Book is very special because the mandalas are designed by children unencumbered by the pressure of adult living. Further, they bring a variety of spiritual as well as geographical cultures to bear.

Monique Mandali has given us something special. Not only do we find drawings to color that can aid in health and serenity...Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book Series is additionally special because they represent the best part of Monique Mandali, her love!

My love affair with these coloring books has only intensified with the publication of Volume 3! The author's experiences and "story" which inspired this volume are infectious in their appeal. What continues to amaze me is that fact that, depending upon the day, the moment, whatever, individual designs leap out at me. A design that draws me to it one time is rarely the same design that attracts me so forcefully another time. Ahhhh - mandalas. After being exposed to them by Monique, I now see them every where! Hurray! They make the world a better place! Plus, I'm never at a loss for a good gift! I give them to people of all ages who all love them! Keep them coming, Monique!

I purchased the whole series. I keep coming back. Its a treat combining one of the best pleasures of childlike doodling with intuitive ramblings on a deeper level. I'm still wholly engaged every time I enter a new one. I'm not sure there could be any "wasted" designs, just ones that appeal to me differently on different days. I'm close to thinking that one day I'll buy these volumes again just for the chance to experience their centers and colors differently. No matter which one I tune in to for the moment, they still have that uncanny quality of helping my work and worries fade so that my center become clearer and rest seems more possible.

This book was a tremendous help for me. I not only learned a great deal but had fun with this book as I began creating my blogs. I highly recommend this book. Makes a great gift. you'll love it.

I have been contemplating writing a book and a few people suggested creating a blog to test out ideas. I stumbled on this book and figured I would give it a read.

This is a great book if you have little or no idea of what you want to do with a blog.

It gives some good suggestions for things overlooked such as creating a sense of trust by filling out your profile so you give a possible reader an idea of why they should consider trusting you.

It discusses the free services such as blogger and typepad and it discusses what they offer to assist in choosing a provider if you go that route.

There are numerous links throughout the book that help with searching the Net for examples and ideas on what you may want to try.

There are many advice points such as backing up your blog and being careful about blogging at work which causes people to get fired.

There are suggestions for getting your blog noticed and some tools to assist your blogging.

As I am new I can't judge all the material but I found it useful as it gave me a better idea about blogging and where to look for more detailed information.

As mentioned this book is good for someone that is considering a blog and knows little or nothing. Someone who has already researched blogging, probably does not need this book. An advanced blogger can skip this book

Very easy to read. Will get you exciting about blogging and get you started quickly.

If you know absolutely nothing about blogging, this is the book for you. The book spends as much time talking about the culture, community, and benefits of blogging, as it does walking you through the steps for setting up a simple blog.

If you've already done a little homework on blogs, this book will be too basic. Skip it and get the Dummies book on blogging, which spends more time helping you compare and choose the right blogging platform for your needs.

The 4 stars? It's a 5 star book for the beginner, but only a 3 star book for the advanced beginner and beyond.

Once you read or skim the book, you understand blogging and can start your own blog. The book made me think about what kind of blog I wanted to start.

The book compares the major blogging sites in text and chart form. It gives advanced information on photo, audio, and video blogging. The resources section lists a lot of free web sites and articles, and I have used it many times.

Bottom line: this is as good as a source on blogging as any book will be, but any book on blogging needs to be supplemented by surfing the web.

Want to take your Mindstorms creations to new hieghts? Go beyond RIS? The ya have to get this book, a follow up to Dave Baum's Definitive Guide to Lego Mindstorms. You will not only see more NQC programming, but pbForth as well, and an excellent section on constructing your own sensors. If your the kid who doesn't grow up, an engineer at heart, and the owner of more than one RIS set because you are obssessed with Lego Mindstorms, then you cannot do without adding this book to your collection.

I don't know if I like the "Extreme" in the title. In many ways this book just covers the basics. In some ways I like this book better than Baum's "Defintive Guide to LEGO Mindstorms", because it's not so NQC centric. In other ways I prefer the DGLM because it had more info on structural issues. There is a knack to making good LEGO structures, and a few tips really come in handy. I would have to say that I find the DGLM more extreme as far as the variety and originality of the projects.

If Definitive Guide was wonderful this one is even better.

These guys have done a good work with the book.

Special mention to Gasperi's Homebrew Sensors section.

One of my library's jewels

If the Definitive Guide was wonderful this one is even better.

Special remark to Gasperi section about homebrew sensors.

This guys have done a invaluable works.

One of my library jewels.

i work with c and assembler, also i work with maya and 3d studio max on the graphics end. black belt in all of those fields. this book is bringing me to my white belt to black belt knowledge in robotics.dont think buy.