Studios Books

This book contains timeless principles about business, making money and how to preserve money. They seem trivial but the U.S. economy early 2008 would be in a much better shape if all participants followed them...We just forget these words of wisdom and we should revert to the work of P.T. Barnum more frequently to avoid the foolish business mistake we all make.

Solid, timeless advice for anyone seeking wealth... and how to keep it once you get it.

This is a book that every young man and young lady should read - so that they ensure their safe passage along the road to success as opposed to the road to destruction.

Barnum gives 20 "rules" that a person must abide by in order to be successful. Given that Barnum was one of the wealthiest men in America during his day, given that Barnum was received by Kings and Queens the world over, his "rules" are worthy of attention.

If you are already striving along the path to success, you will likely find the "rule" that you have been breaking to this point, that has been holding you back. When you read this book, you'll see it, and your success will be accelerated greatly.

By the way, all 20 of these "rules" are fully applicable to today's world and environment. There is absolutely nothing that is "dated" about this book.

As an aside, this book was actually a speech that Barnum gave on the "speakers circuit" of his day. As such, it provides a great model from which a person can construct a speech of their own. You'll see how Barnum gets "personal", uses jokes, quotes, and stories to bring his speech to life and make it interesting.

Lastly, in the realm of success books, there isn't an easier book to read anywhere since this book is a mere 32 pages long.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891), American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

In Brooklyn, New York in 1871, he established "P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Circus", a traveling amalgamation of circus, menagerie and museum of "freaks", which by 1872 was billing itself as "The Greatest Show on Earth".

There's a sucker born every minute" is a phrase often credited to P.T. Barnum. However, when Barnum's biographer tried to track down when Barnum had uttered this phrase, all of Barnum's friends and acquaintances told him it was out of character. Barnum's credo was more along the lines of "there's a customer born every minute" -- he wanted to find ways to draw new customers in all the time because competition was fierce and people bored easily

Barnum wrote several books, including The Humbugs of the World (1865), Struggles and Triumphs (1869), and his Autobiography (first in 1854, and later editions including 1869).

The Art of Money Getting is really the story of how to run a sales organization by understanding the mind and tastes of your primary customer base.

Barnum is a treat to read and is never boring! I highly recommend his books.

There are a lot of things to be said about this book. It's a lavish and sumptuous offering for both Artesia fans and RPG fans alike. The breadth of information about our beloved Artesia, and the world she occupies is staggering and entertaining. The RPG aspects of the book have interesting mechanics and character generation is both fun and engrossing. The aspect I love most about it, is as a graphic designer it is wonderfully designed. As a book it is a finely crafted work of art. You can tell that thought and care was put into every aspect of its production. Very well done. Mark has done an outstanding job and I wish other companies would follow his lead. The world could use more RPG prouducts of this caliber.

This book is probably the better looking RPG book I ever seen.
Hope you will be as much fascinated by it as I did .
Now I will go and read it. Sorry if this is not an in-depth review, but english is not my natural language.
Nevertheless i felt the urge to write something.

I had thought that the days of all inclusive rule books had long passed. Most companies seem to focus on grinding out book after book of questionable quality, milking their product for all it's worth. But this book is an example of what should be the gold standard. Not only does it provide a setting with more depth then other games achieve after decades of dubious supplemental materials, and provide simple, working rules, to cover all aspects of the game, but it's a joy to just page through it. Not just the wonderful illustrations and maps, but even the layout is heads and sholders above it's "main stream" rivials.

This is not only an amazing read for Artesia fans...but its got to be one of the most comprehensive rpg books I've ever seen. Lots of information, great artwork, excellent easy system to use. I've been "retired" from playing rpg's for over ten years now, but I was such a fan of the Artesia comics that I picked this up. Artesia rpg gave me faith in rpg books again. Much like the old ICE Merp books, its just got tons of information and paints the scene for you to fill in the blanks. Get this book!!!

As a beginner to Web Applications, i found this book extremely easy to understand. The book covers all the topics necessary to get going to develop a complete basic web application. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants information regarding State Management, Data Binding, ADO, UI/Web Controls, Basic Security etc. Also, this book would be very useful to anyone who has little or no experience with ASP.NET before and who want to get their basics right before plunging on to a project. Great book!!

Before reading this book I had developed a few simple web applications, but I was ready for a more in depth approach utilizing all of the excellent features provided by .NET. This book covers a lot of the basic topics that will allow you to write code efficiently and quickly. Of course since there are a wide range of topics, one finds that some of them fail to go into great detail, but this is not even an issue as the author gives you enough information and examples to be able to figure it out for yourself, or at least to give you a solid foundation for solving the problem. The only downside is that, as far as I know, the code examples do not exist on Wrox's website. Perhaps I couldn't find them? It's not really a big issue because most of the code is easy to follow. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants beginning/intermediate information regarding State Management, Data Binding, ADO, UI/Web Controls, Basic Security and more.

Being new to .Net and redirecting my career into software development, I've found Daniel's book to be one of most well written and insightful books on C# and Visual Studio.net. He moves quickly into the nuts and bolts of the .Net classes and provides innovative code that go beyond the obvious. You are given multiple methods of handling logic in the same code-behind. The authors cleared much confusion I had about server controls, data binding and ADO.Net. Readers will appreciate the applications development approach in the book which goes beyond theory and shows you how to apply your skills in solving real-world problems. I recommend you write the code yourself line by line and read the book cover to cover. He leads you step by step. You will discover the finer points of VS.net, not to mention the many properties of the .Net classes with Intellisense. I also like the SQL data interaction because this is so important with our customers. I highly recommend it!

As a technical reviewer of this book I found it to have a good mix of technical content and explaination which is ideal for helping developers to get started with ASP.NET.

The book explores various areas of key functionality within ASP.NET and supports it with a sample application. I'd recommend this book to anyone who hasn't had any experience with ASP.NET before and who want to get some understanding before undertaking a project.

This book is so cute and so much fun! We borrowed this book from our local library and then I just had to own it. My kids didn't want to return it to the library. The story line is so cute and it rhymes too which gives it a fun rhythmic sound as you read it aloud. Great book!

Although Amazon advertises this book for ages 4-8, my wife and I started reading this and other Stan and Jan Berenstain books to our children from 18 months and up. Always a delight, our kids would laugh at the silliness while learning a lesson about life. We started a great habit of reading two or three books before bed, and the kids loved them. Soon, they would memorize many of the phrases, beginning a lifelong passion for reading.

Every kid should experience reading books by the Berenstains while growing up. The characters are well developed, the rhyming phrases help kids become enthusiastic about reading, and the messages about life make them think. Bears On The Moon got my son and daughter asking questions about space and interested in the great beyond. Combine this with other fun Berenstain Bear books and your kids will sit enthralled as you turn the pages. Highly recommended.

"The Berenstain Bears on the Moon," by Stan and Jan Berenstain, is one of the best in the authors' excellent series of children's books. In this installment, Brother and Sister Bear, accompanied by their excitable pet dog, take a rocket trip to the moon and back.

Although the book's primary purpose is entertainment and literacy education, the Berenstains do get some of the science right. The portray the gravity-free environment of the space ship's interior during the voyage, and they also show that the gravity on the lunar surface is much less than that on Earth.

The book is illustrated in the typically appealing Berenstain Bears style. Particularly fun is the orange, green, and purple-colored rocket ship used by the intrepid space travelers. And the rhymes are equally fun. Example: "Two little bears / and one little pup. / They are off to the moon, / going up, up, up!" This irresistible adventure tale is definitely a high point in a beloved book series.

My two year old son wants me to read this book to him several times a day. He never tires of hearing about the bear's adventure, and I think that he enjoys the rhythm of the words.

and I always found manga somewhat...pointless. I figured, why bother reading it when you can just watch it? Then I saw this while at Borders one day and was so intrigued. The cover art was beautifully drawn and showed the particulars of a possible love story. I picked it up and opened it to see what it was like. I was immediately intrigued and wanted it- even though I didn't find manga very enjoyable. However, I just bought this the other day and was so moved. The storyline is fantastic. With the vampire market in anime/manga being totally saturated, it's amazing that this title stands out so greatly amongst the rest. It's a beautiful love story riddled with suspense and intrigue. Gorgeous artwork and fantastic characters make for an awesome read. In fact? This manga just made me fall in love with what may be one of Japan's most popular forms of entertainment. This was the first manga I read- and thanks to Blood Alone, it won't be the last. It's $10...do yourself a favor and buy it right away. Towards the end of this first volume there's a scene that melted my heart completely away and I stopped on the page for a good minute just staring at the artwork and re-reading what was said. This is one good love story.

Back in April, I saw the Chinese translation of this manga series in a Chinese bookstore. I can't read much Chinese, and didn't have much time to be in the store, but through the artwork and what little Chinese I could read, this looked AMAZING. It's not a shojo manga, but it's not really shonen either. I was drawn to this series because of the simple, but elegant artwork, the dark atmosphere of the book, and the fact there's vampires in it!
I made a recommendation to my school library to purchase this book, and I noticed it was on the shelf of manga today, so I instantly checked the first two books out. I absolutely LOVE it. It's about this little vampire girl named Misaki who lives with Kuroe, a lonely, but kind, attractive man who's a writer and a detective. Their relationship is very interesting. Misaki obviously has feelings for Kuroe, who takes care of her, but we're not so sure about Kuroe. Even though they apparently have a huge age difference between them, the artist somehow makes their relationship seem very sweet and not so creepy pedophile-like. In this series, there's lots of mystery episodes, with all these unexpected twists and turns, so it just sucks you into the story because you want to know what's going to happen.
The series is rated 13+, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's goes queasy at blood. I would recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries and thrillers, and enjoys similar manga series such as Vampire Knight, Godchild, The Tarot Cafe, and Vampire Hunter D (which is also a series of novels).

This is a really cute (but not so shojo-cute) story of a little girl vampire who has a caretaker. You don't know what kind of relationship it is, but you get the feeling Misaki is older than Kuroe so don't let the age difference scare you off. This is a really wonderful story; different and new. If you like manga and/ or like vampires, you'll like this story a lot.
Besides that, it's just a good story and great drawings as well.

Just finished reading and I was amazed by everything. Great story line, not another hey I'm a vampire and I have angst, but a real heart gripping tale. Very glad I bought it!! The artwork is very elegant and beautiful! A must for your summer reading...

On welfare and already with too many children to call her own, Mrs. Johnstone is once again faced with another pregnancy--this time, twins. With the ability to only support one, Mrs. Johnstone is persuaded to give one of the babies to her childless employer, Mrs. Lyons. In an attempt to keep the boys apart when they unknowingly meet face-to-face and become "blood brothers," the Lyons move to another home in the English countryside. When the Johnstones are relocated, Mickey and Eddie again are happily reunited. As they get older, however, the difference in their social classes and a bitter love triangle tear them apart. One of the most haunting musical tragedies since West Side Story.

Though it is a bit crude in some parts, BLOOD BROTHERS remains and probably always will be my favorite musical of all time. The plot of the story revolves around a set of twins (Mickey and Eddie) separated at birth because their mother cannot afford to raise two more children. A deal is struck with the infertile employer of Mrs. Johnstone, Mrs. Lyons, and one of the children is raised by the Lyons in luxury. The only catch, no one must ever know the truth. As life has it, the boys eventually meet anyway and become the best of friends, blood brothers.

Willy Russell created a real gem here. BLOOD BROTHERS is a moving musical filled with all the tragedy and comedy of life, but without resorting to sentimental sap. The play exposed and illustrated to me the fatal flaws of the British economic caste system in a way far better than any other piece of literature ever has. It's a great play and though the moving music is not found here in the script, there's still the story.

I saw the London stage version of "Blood Brothers" last summer and left the Adelphi Theater completely and satisfyingly exhausted from the emotions that the story wrung out of me. What I loved most was the uncalulated, "sorry but this is life" attitude, and the total believability of all of the characters.
Willy Russell lovingly crafted every aspect of the story. The premise of the plot has been done time and again, but Russell magically shows us how everything old is new again--and brilliantly so. These are people we know, these are our friends, our neighbors, perhaps even ourselves. Oddly, the show didn't endear itself to Broadway, but it has been running since the 80's in London. Another point of interest: if you look hard enough, you can find three Original Cast versions. The first, starring Kiki Dee, another (I believe from the Broadway version), and an "international version" starring Petula Clark, David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy. Willy Russell plays the role of the Narrator, and he has a magnificent voice. This last version is my favorite. With real life brothers taking on such an emotionally charged project, Petula Clark as the tragic Mrs. Johnstone, and Willy Russell haunting the stage, the electricity flies. Backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the experience is nothing short of magic.
"Blood Brothers", like "Phantom of the Opera", "Les Miserables" and "Chicago" is definitely a more than one time show. The young man sitting next to me had seen "Blood Brothers" for the sixteenth time! And still, he had tears in his eyes, as did I. Read the book; it won't ruin the play for you. If you're lucky enough to get to London, by all means make "Blood Brothers" top priority for the show to see.

It's an excellent story, full of laughs and tears. Mrs. Johnstone, who is barely getting by with the several children she already has, discovers she is pregnant again with twins (Micky and Eddie). She cannot support both of them so her employer, Mrs. Lyons, who is unable to have children, convinces Mrs. Johnstone to let her keep one of the babies. However, the boys are never to know that they are twins, for if they find out, so superstition says, they will both immediately die.
Of course, as years pass, the boys do meet and become best friends. They become 'Blood Brothers' and are always there for each other. But as they get older, they see the differences their social classes have brought upon them. They have grown up differently and tension starts to form between the two of them. But still, they never know the truth until it's too late.

If you want to know more about architecture in the Caribbean, you have to read this book!

Through his work at la Marina, Casa de Campo, Gian Franco Fini captures the essence of refined architecture with a perfect air of Caribbean elegance.

This is a book about one of those magical places that once you get there you don't want to leave. It's in the path of boats coming from Miami to the West Indies and is the place to see in the Caribbean before you die. Casa de Campo is the Caribbean most complete resort by far where any possible hobby in the world could practiced at world renowned conditions -besides skiing, except if you change it for water-sky-. The book about the Casa de Campo's Marina is definitely a 5 start in class, quality and content. This is the real thing in Caribbean Elegance and Luxury where you'll be able to find some of the most exclusive houses in the region.

This is the only book available about Marinas from an architectural standpoint. Blueprints, sketches and more than 300 full-color pictures are a never ending source for one of the most luxurious approach to Caribbean Architecture. It's about the renowned Marina at Casa de Campo, La Romana, Dominican Republic and is a must for anyone willing see from the inside out as many options as possible to recreate a tropical paradise despite if it's and apartment or a houses under 2,000 sqf or a masterpiece above 20,000 sqf.
In contrast with W.R. Blain's book for "Marina Developments" -That is an excellent and maybe the only book about Marinas from a structural standpoint- this one is an architectural approach to Marinas and all the elements around it such as Yacht Club, Apartments, Houses, Restaurants and all related services. It's full of details and references in a text that is catchy and easy to read. My only concern was that I thought it was pricy in the first place despite that it was printed and bounded in Italy, but Blain's book is above the $250 and this one is more related to interior design and architecture so it's worth 5 out 5 starts.

"Cationary" is beautiful, amusing, knowing - just like the photographer's "Dogtionary." Sharon Montrose really has done it again. You know the old saying, "Dogs have masters; cats have staff." Indeed. Cats are vain; they're haughty; they don't suffer fools at all, let alone gladly. Then turn around, and they're loving, and graceful, and endlessly inventive. They're all here in this delightful book, in all their warm, exasperating, funny, fussy, glamorous glory.

This book is a must have for all cat lovers! The pictures make you smile and the captions make you laugh. These photographs encompass the personalities and emotions of the cats that grace them.
Wonderfully done!

I have to repeat it, WHAT A HAPPY LITTLE BOOK! Being in the animal care field (I work at a non-profit, privately funded shelter) not only do I collect books on animals, of course, I see a lot of sad situations everyday in my field. When this book arrived from Amazon (prompt as usual), after a hard day at the shelter, I was immediately overjoyed by the beauty of it and it helped me realize "Yes, this is why I do what I do, because people care"! The photography is excellent, sort of a photojournalistic point of view and the style of printing is in a soft, sepia tone. The captions for each photograph are right on target. Now to order her book on dogs....

All I could think about while I was looking through this beautiful book was how much I wished I could contract Ms. Montrose to take portraits of my cats. How thrilled the guardians of these cats must feel to have these gorgeous portraits of their cat companions.

I work for a publishing company so the typesetting did not escape my notice, either. Called "CatLover" it was designed by the author as per the cip page, and is so hip and quirky and appropriate. Impressive.

The format of the book is a photograph or photographs of a cat, it's name which falls into alphabetical order like Webster's on a much smaller scale, and then captioned by three definitions of the accompanied cat. My favorite is Gracie because that is the name of one of my own cat companions.

When you buy this book, get two. One for yourself and one for another cat lover in your life.

Roger Wyer is a genius! His hip style of writing makes this an easy read. Roger not only discusses the problems associated with the drudgery people find in their work, but he offers simple solutions to discovering joy. His doown-to-earth approach makes the reader feel as if he has lived in their shoes. His humorous outlook on life makes this a wonderful book. This book is for the factory line worker as well as the CEO's of Industry. Choose Joy, you won't be disappointed.

I'm looking forward to more books from Mr. Wyer.

Happy people produce more, thats the bottom line. Whether your a sales associate on the brink of collapse due to lack of production as the result of being unhappy, or your a company CEO who needs to breathe some new life into his or her organiztion, this book is for you! This book takes a bottom floor up approach to joy on the job, giving you building blocks, and steps to get back on track. Life is all about choices, why not choose joy?

Choosing Joy At Work: Learn The Process Of Being Happy And Living More Fully by Roger Wyer (consultant, coach, and change agent to small business and nonprofit organizations) is an innovative and practical approach to a happier, more satisfactory working life. Acting as a well-detailed strategy guide for the creation of a more confluent, joyous workplace, Choosing Joy At Work nicely maps Wyer's more then twenty years of experience improving how people labor together in the workplace. Choosing Joy At Work is very strongly recommended for all readers acting as administrators or managers for businesses, but more particularly to anyone facing life with an unsatisfactory perspective of their own working life and workplace environment, searching for an intelligible and pragmatic approach to a better, less compromising and happier working life.

Who can not be FOR joy? Mr. Wyer helps us reconnect back to our birthright. I enjoyed his conversational manner of conveying his thoughts, experiences, principles, etc. - it truly felt like he was sitting with me and chatting. This is a most uplifting and fun read that has repercussions for everyone- not just at work,- and the world. We need to perceive and remember our joy and spread it around; joy is contagious, as the author says. I see this book profoundly affecting all who read it, inspiring them to live more positive, creative, love-filled, and, of course, joyful lives. I look forward to a better world for us all. Thank you, Mr. Wyer!

I thought the book was very good. The illustrations were very nice, and I liked that it went right along with the scripture account of the birth of Christ.

This book has been long awaited for by Christian parents everywhere. The text comes straight from the King James Bible and the illustrations are just wonderful. Finally there is a children's book that is scripturally accurate and fun for children to look at as well. Anyone who wants to teach their children the true meaning of Christmas in a way that will leave a lasting impression in their hearts and minds will want this book.

I have looked everywhere for a picture book that uses the actual scripture verses from the bible that tells the nativity story. This is what we read our children on Christmas Eve as part of our family tradition. This book's illustrations are simply beautiful. My children love looking at the pictures while we read them the story. This is the kind of book we will keep as a family heirloom so our children can pass on the tradition.

This is the perfect book to read as family. I have very young kids who have a hard time sititng through the nativity story. The illustrations are beautiful and very tender. My children love to see the picture that goes with each verse of scripture. I think the illustrator did a fantastic job in capturing the feelings of each moment. Thanks...I can't wait to see more books from this illustrator.