Office Space Books

An easy, colorful read with beautiful color photos of Kahn's world. Any chapter can be read individually or as part of the whole. Her explorations into the world of design and aesthetics are methodical but by no means boring. This is not your mother's decorating book.

For a lively trip from Central Park West, to Harlem, to Connecticut take this book for a ride.

This book solidly places the creative inspiration of collectors on par with that of designers and artists. Any reader, by following the path that Kahn has set for herself, gets permission to embark on their own path of discovery and exploration, and with the benefit of the copious lessons the author has learned along the way! Clearly, thoroughly and in a enlightened way, acquiring things of beauty and originality is made accessible to beginners and made fun for the jaded....both will be preparing for the thrill of the hunt!!!

The most surprising and impressive art collection and interior design advice. Great photos. I loved it.

While Miss Kahn's taste is quite unique her creative approach to designing and decorating space has resonance for anyone. There is a real sense of excitement and joy in her approach which comes through on every page. There is also a remarkable lack of ego and self importance which makes it great fun to join in this quest for the original and different. The lessons learned and tips are practical and valuable for anyone trying to personalize their own environment. This book is a primer on how to be original and courageous in an area that generally lacks both. Fasten your seatbelt, it's a great ride.

What Jenette Kahn has written here is much more that a retelling of a life (although it is that); rather, it is a marvelous evocation of the refining of a very particular, resourceful, and uniquely demanding taste. What Kahn shows us is her artistic (and artful) obsessions--with space, with self-expression, and with visual delight.

Reading In Your Space felt partly like looking at oneself in the mirror in great lighting (the "recognition factor" of one's own design-maven ambitions) and partly like having someone throw open the doors of (to?) an entirely new world that you always suspected lay just beyond the threshold of what you were able to imagine for yourself, by yourself. And the best part? She not only gently suggests how you might think about designing the spaces you inhabit, but tells you where to go to find what you want, how to make the connections you need, how deal with recalcitrant sources...and then how to rethink it all if need be ("You can always repaint!") and let the spirit of the place--and the prized possessions it it--tell you how and what it wants to be.

In Your Space chronicles a personal journey of education--learning to see (and to trust the seeing) and learning to understand what a space can be coaxed to say about its creator and to evoke for those lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a very personal vision. It does so with an execution that is equal to Kahn's own standards: her witty, brisk-but-intimate writing somehow manages not to leave anything out, and the photographs are so luscious they make you want to lick the page.

This is a fantastic book that will help anyone create the perfect home office. It is packed with great ideas, hints and tips as well as lots of example photos. The two major issues of the home worker, limited space and integrating work functions with living space, are always kept in mind.

The book starts by helping you identify your needs and determine what type of worker you are. By using this information you can establish a home office plan. It also helps you choose the right location, exploring the pros and cons of different rooms.

Office design is next. Here the book guides you through choosing materials including flooring, wall-coverings and window treatments. It shows you a variety of floor plans and assists you in planning a your workspace arrangement. Selecting the appropriate lighting and purchasing furniture follows. There is a useful ergonomic tip sheet and a chair buying guide. Creative storage solutions, filing secrets and the basic home office supplies you will need are also covered. There are even small sections on décor and creating a client-friendly office.

The final chapter shows you real world offices including guest room and laundry room makeovers. Other offices, including those of an interior designer, a web designer, a researcher, a writer and literary agent are shown as well. Other examples feature a wide range of styles. I loved a funky black & white office with an "S" shaped bookcase and offbeat variety of wallpaper. I found an office under a metal bunk bed interesting as well. Whether you have a whole room or just a tiny corner to work in this book will help you.

Lisa Kanarek is well-known for her expertise in home office design and operation. She's written other books, published articles, and appears frequently as a professional speaker on the topic. Because of her knowledge and positioning, Lisa appears in the media frequently. I was understandably startled when I saw this coffee table book with her name on it.

I started looking through the book and discovered that the author's valuable advice is plentiful. And so are gorgeous full-color photos of examples of the designs and approaches the author recommends. The book is best suited for someone contemplating developing a home office, but it can be just as valuable for someone who already has a home office but is thinking about making improvements. Prepare to take copious notes; you won't want to write in this book.

If you look in a bricks-and-mortar bookstore for this book, you may have some difficulty. The publisher has categorized the book as "Home Decoration/Interior Design." OK, I acquiesce. It is a beautiful book on decorating and design, and it is related to the home. But this is a business book, make no mistake about it. The volume does, however, demonstrate that it is possible to have an efficient workspace that also looks really good.
And that bothered me about Home Office Life. Everything is so neat and pretty in those pictures. I'm not sure our home office looked that good on the first day of operations! I suppose you have to make everything look pretty and sterile for such photos, though.

Lisa Kanarek covers the waterfront for us. The first chapter deals with How to Make a Better Business at Home. Some of us really need this! Included are planning, set-up, and organization. You'll learn things about how to carve out a space for yourself and how to design the office that will work for you. And you'll get lots of tips along the way.

The second section of the book talks about Getting Down to Business. You'll learn how to put your home office to work, setting up shop and getting settled in. The third section deals with reality, presenting real examples of how home offices can work. This section has the information needed by people considering a makeover of their home office. A resource list and an index make this book even more valuable.

With the movement toward home offices, this book is a winner. You might suggest your architect buy one, too. If you use an interior decorator, get yet another copy.

A book filled with helpful information and beautiful illustrations is rare. Home Office Life includes a variety of home office photos in full color and gave me plenty of ideas for improving my own home office. Kanarek's first book, Organizing Your Home Office For Success, gave me the direction I needed to set up files, plan my day and handle multiple projects. Home Office Life has turned my home office into a place I enjoy walking into each day. I highly recommend this book.

It's rare to find such a book that is both beautiful to look at and filled with helpful advice. Along with dozens of inspiring photos of innovative home office set-ups, there are many useful checklists and tips that are easy to follow. Plus there's an outstanding categorized "Resource List" at the end which includes a helpful description of each resource. I also liked all the real-life examples from a wide variety of home-based businesses-- there's something here for everyone.

Written by home office guru Lisa Kanarek, you'll learn ways to make your office work for you (pun intended). The design ideas in this beautifully illustrated book will help you think out of the box and implement the best working system for your home office needs.

The pictures alone will change the way you think about an office at home. Whether you need to create a niche in your little corner of the world, find furniture that doesn't crick your neck, or design a space that fits your lifestyle, Home Office Life will guide you every step of the way.

I was referred to this book by an American Artist whom had lived in Japan for almost 50 years. As a Chinese, I thought I know Chinese history, but after reading through JD's detail account of events with vivid description of the personalities, I can visualize the historical moments through the paper. It is so well written that I have to read very slowly to digest it. Combining this with other readings during the same period, including Ray Huang's lesser known Yellow River Blue Mountain (his autobiography), I am beginning to see history in perspective!

John Davies has crafted a superb tale of his years in Asia and Moscow. He was a classic Old China Hand, raised by missionary parents in China, a fluent speaker of the language, and a natural to serve in the State Department and as Army liaison during World War II. The book combines period documents with later reflections, dazzling readers with thrilling adventures and portentous encounters with the era's major figures: Generalissimo and Madame Chiang, Stilwell, Mao, Zhou Enlai, Roosevelt, Marshall. The 1948-9 Nationalist debacle sparked an anticommunist hunt for scapegoats blamed for "losing" China (it was never ours to lose), tragically depriving the US of wise counsel from Davies, John Service, Oliver Clubb, John Vincent and others. As J.K. Fairbank noted, neither before nor since has America had such gifted country experts to advise on foreign policy. Davies's view of a defense-minded Soviet Union again was more realistic than the official line which helped provoke the Cold War. His globetrotting is a little hard to follow, and fuller coverage of post-1945 events would be welcome, but these are quibbles. See L. Van Slyke ed, "The China White Paper." E. Sevareid, "Not so Wild a Dream" augments Davies's modest paragraph on their celebrated parachute jump and escape from Burma. E.J. Kahn, "The China Hands" details wartime conflicts and postwar persecutions, while J.S. Service, "Lost Chance in China" contains prophetic field reports by Davies's most astute colleague.

If you wish to understand Sino-American relations in the 20th Century, this book by our most brilliant (and persecuted) Political Officer in the State Department, must be your starting point. It is more than educational. His digressions - descriptions of the voyages of Cheng Ho during the Ming Dynasty; Mukden during the early years of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria; the celebration in Moscow after V-E day; etc., etc. - reveal a literary gift of the highest magnitude. Truly, one of the best books I have ever read. In fact, it irks me that so few people have read it.

While I had previously read Seagrave's Soong Dynasty and Tuchman's Stilwell, it was the bibliographical notes of Ambassador Lilley's China Hands that got me turned on to this book. I ordered it from an Amazon seller and I wasn't disappointed.

Mr. Davies offers vivid, evocative descriptions of events and people he encountered in China from his birth in Sichuan in 1908 until the Communist takeover in 1949. Apparently a religious record keeper, Davies is able to rely on his contemporaneous diary entries and letters to produce colorful details that would have been impossible to to recall 30 or 40 years after the fact. Davies does an exceptional job of mixing macroscopic historical events with his own microscopic personal narrative to create a flowing portrait of early 20th century China.

Though very much loyal member of Stilwell's China detail, Davies offers even-handed analysis of the events that eventually led to the fall of the Nationalist regime in China. Instead of putting the blame for the "loss" of China on any individual, Davies seems to point at the prevalence of sentimentalism over China in the minds of American foreign policy actors as leading to the mishandling of China during the 1940s.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in China, Asian studies, or WWII history.

As above, a wonderful description of Chinese history in the 20th century by someone who was there. From the manchu's through early revolution to Chiang and the Communist struggle; one insight follows another.

As always, money talks. Or was it more than money? That question is not exactly answered in this chilling expose of Nazi war criminals living quiet, peaceful lives in the United States, the corruption in the INS that allowed them entrance (and citizenship!), and the man who tried his best to hunt them down and expell them. Although the author concentrated on four of these monsters, he might have done the world a service in 1977 by naming all 59 names on the list Tony DeVito was supplied. Looking back through the Kosovo experience, would expelling those Ustashi leaders hiding here and openingly publishing their hate literature have somehow prevented the blood-shed in Serbia? And the disgrace to the Rumanian Orthodox Church! No wonder there were young people in the 1960s for whom "organized religion" was a joke! This book actually raises more questions than it answers and someone should do a thorough examination of INS records for the years 1945 to 1960. It would make another good book!

I have read and re-read this book several times, and it is fantastic. By selecting four Nazis who slipped through the cracks of the overwhelming post-war immigration, Howard Blum skillfully details their stories, and the efforts to expose them for living the good life here in America. The detail with which their horrific actions are recounted is ample evidence of Blum's thorough nature and regard for history while keeping the reader mesmorized. Even though it was written in the 1970's, the impact on today's readers should be felt just as deeply.

You would have to consider this book to be a literal eye opener. The author gives several real life examples of Nazi war criminals living the good life in the United States. The author
takes several cases of Nazis who have set up residency in the
United States. The details of these individuals false residency
makes for informative reading as well.The network that protects
these individuals is given attention as well.This makes for scary reading that Nazi war criminals could actually live the good life of the United States as normal American citizens. This
is a book that will make you wonder. Read this book. It is definitely a page turner.

The Tudors is a wonderfully written book. Instead of focusing on mundane little details about each monarch's personal life, this book focuses on what each one did while ruling England. This is a great book for those who want an overview of the Tudor dynasty, and would make an excellent textbook for a course on Tudor history.

Richard Rex is Director of Studies at Queens' College in Cambridge and the author of numerous papers on Tudor England, so his introduction THE TUDORS comes from a richly researched background, making it a `must' for in-depth English history collections at the college level. The public and private lives of the Tudors of England's `golden age' are examined in a guide which considers how dukes and kings influenced one of the greatest ages in English history.

This book is Excellent in every regard! A MUST HAVE for anyone thinking of planning a medical or dental office space. It is very detailed with great photos! The author provides great resources as well through her company's website. It is definitely worth the investment!

this book is excenlent describes the medicasl procedures and what spaces to design for them, covers radiology, surgical suites, nuclear medicne and medical spaces for dentist it was a big help , an it even comes with plant layouts that you can really see how the facilities work!

I have been using this calendar for several years now and always look forward to the next day's entry. Even after all this time I have never seen an image duplicated. Mr. Mathews has put together one of the best collections of space imagery i have ever seen. His grasp and understanding of the examined topics is only surpassed by his excellent readable descriptions.

The Boss from Outer Space and Other Aliens at Work: A Down-to-Earth Guide for Getting Along With Just About Anyone should be required reading for any worker. General-interest libraries as well as business libraries will find invaluable an approach which goes beyond the usual boxing and identification of personality disorders in the workplace, addressing how to cope with these difficult personalities. An outstanding survey of distinctive and related issues reveals all kinds of options for compromise and positive change.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book gives very good general tips on designing and decorating your home office. The pictures are beautiful and show a wide variety of styles. The book describes the benefits of different types of furniture. It also gives you sources for where to get the products in the photos.

Bonus: It has a section titled "work-space basics" which give you tips for floor planning, safety (e.g. outlets and cords), heating and cooling, and security.

I recommend this book to any one who is setting up a home office or wants tips to refresh the home office they already have.

The booklet could have been called Prior Roger and the Brown Paper Envelope. For anyone following the course of recent Irish political life, with its favours done to "friends", its general openness to corruption and the high life enjoyed by the great and the powerful, it provides a salutary lesson that nothing much has changed. It was all going on in the fourteenth century, much of it happening in what is now the relative backwater of Kilmainham. The writer has explored how Roger Outlaw (great name, for a start) used the network of friends he gathered in Kilmainham to more or less run the country for twenty years. Outlaw kept his contacts in luxury, held extravagant feasts and even presented them with gowns covered in furs and trimmings in order to hold their support. Despite the lack of personal records, you get a very strong sense of the man himself - an arch-politician if ever there was one - and of the society at Kilmainham, the centre of power of the military order of the Knight's Hospitallers. One of the most interesting chapters deals with the Alice Kyteler witchcraft trial, a story which involves a mad bishop, a middle-aged murderess and a host of minor characters. The Byzantine twists and turns in the story make for fascinating reading. Outlaw took the side of the "witches" because of family and local loyalties and got himself accused of heresy for his troubles.

I really enjoyed the book. Although it is short, it contained a huge amount of information - in fact, the detail is almost too densely packed in for such a short work. But it gave me an insight into how society operated in a period I knew little about, and a taste to find out more about it. The study started out as an M.A. thesis, and the signs are on it with the number of footnotes and references in a comparatively short text. My advice is - ignore the footnotes and enjoy the story. It's worth it.