Interior Design Books

This book is very beautiful. A thick book filled with glossy high-quality photographs of a very wide range of decorating styles and architectures. As the title suggests, the emphasis is on windows, but also the way window styling integrates with room decor is heavily emphasized as well. Another thing strongly covered is the use of drapes and blinds, as well as general decorating accents (throw pillows,ect.)and color schemes. An excellent book for decorating ideas generally, too.

I must say this is exactly the kind of book i've been looking for, since I entered architecture school I have been trying to find literature for a good design process applied to architecture. The book covers the architectural design process from start to finish with many helpfull insights into the various stages of the complex design process involved in building. In my opinion, it is a vaery complete book, not just talking about building aspects, but client relationships, cost concerns, while at the same time realizing the diference of the academic and work reality. A must buy in my opinion.

If you study product design, then this is the book to have.

For a design book under $25 bucks, this book is a steal. It features a lot of contemporary designers, with great pictures, interviews, and a bit of art history to boot. Gives you a lot of ideas and a few things to chew on.

For a seasoned designer, this book may be kind of basic. However, for a student or a young professional, this book offers a wealth of information.

THE ENVIROMENT SIDES OF STREET LIGHTIN

This book is *the* essential book on Issa for English readers, and for Japanese who read English as well. Debunking a great deal of the myth (some of which Issa seems directly responsible for), this book gives a straightforward overview of the poet's life and the development of his haiku. Showing that although he did indeed have a difficult childhood and youth, Issa gained serious recognition and financial security in his middle years, even returning to his childhood home as a modestly comfortable landowner. It also takes up the forces bearing on his development as a poet, including the haiku hierarchy of his time and the effects of this and of religion and personal tragedy late in life on his changing poetics. The plentiful translations, of haiku, a complete linked poem, and a number of short prose pieces, are well done and worth the price of admission.

I keep this book at my desk, as it is an excellent resource for almost any unusual furnishing or finish. Descriptions are clear with B&W illustrations for many of the more interesting items. Where else will you find a "gueridon" listed?

I heartily recomend this book.
Teri
Professional ID in Baltimore

This dictionary of the vocabulary of the Old Canaanite, Phoenician, Punic, Moabite, Ammonite, Hebrew, Aramaic, and other ancient Northwest Semitic inscriptions is a state-of-the-art tool for specialists, yet it is so extraordinarily well organized and its material is so clearly presented that even those with no more than a nodding acquaintance with Semitics will find it easy to use.

And many non-specialists _should_ use this dictionary: they will find it immensely useful. For example, rabbis and pastors will find that when used judiciously it can provide as rich a store of illustrative material for messages on the Hebrew scriptures as Moulton and Milligan's _The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament_ does for sermons from the New Testament.

The dictionary's greatest defect, in my view, is a relatively minor one: the authors' imperfect mastery of English sometimes leads them astray. For instance, the dictionary states that in Imperial Aramaic _bl'd hn_ (I use an apostrophe to represent 'ayin) means "excepted if," an expression which seems to have gone out of fashion among native speakers of English in the sixteenth century. Since the dictionary does not identify the language of an inscription when it quotes it, beginners may complain that it is often difficult for them to know just what they are looking at. But this is probably a virtue, not a defect: those beginners need to be reminded that they are, after all, using a grown-up's tool.

...this two-volume, 1300-page work is a steal. I have wept at its beauties.

Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise.

Diodorus a Greek historian who lived from 80-20 BCE wrote 40 books of world history. He is an uncritical compiler who used good sources and produced them faithfully. His work is one of the oldest works available and is based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows.

The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have.

Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man.

This book is a necessary read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work, and from contemporary writers, J. F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels.

As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ancient warfare, and history.

Does any homeowner not have at least a short list of things they would like to change in their house? This book is a description of 50 do it yourself projects that just might include what you're thinking of.

In my case it is windows. My house has windows that are single pane (and very heat inefficient), painted so many times that there's no way they'll ever open, and non-standard size. Page 132. - Making a Custom Window.

Garage a God-Awful mess. Try Gardener's Garage. Page 256. And that's just two of the 50 projects that are discussed, illustrated and described well enough that you just might be tempted uo schedule a trip to Home Depot tomorrow morning.

A particularily nice thing about this book is that the book was done by the hosts of DIY to the Rescue. The co-hosts of the show are Karl and Amy. Note Amy, a girl's name. In this day and age there are a lot single women living alone. Here is a bit of home repair, One of the co-hosts on the series is female. Seeing her in these pictures and on the show, there is no reason that snothre coman the same skills can't do a lot of similar projects.