No comments about Luxury Houses Seaside (Luxury Books).

5 comments about Colors For Your Every Mood: Discover Your True Decorating Colors (Capital Lifestyles) (Capital Lifestyles).

1. Easy and quick to read and understand. Ties into the Pantone Color Guides very well. Combine this books, the Textile Guide, and ColorCue TX for a real lock on the color issues of interior design.



2. As a web developer I spend most of my day writing code and worrying about the code working on all browsers, etc. Up until recently I had no desire to learn about color and the feelings behind it. If you are in a similar situation look no more. This book has made a permanent position on my desk and will continue to help me with the design and development of my future projects. Hats off to the authors....
   I have fully recommended this book to the entire Long island Flash User's Group (LIFUG).



3. This book explained things I never did know about colors and served a a tool when creating my web site. The author take you through the history and usage of colors. It is truely a worthty purchase.



4. This is a fun book on color that seems to appeal to just about everyone who sees it. The ability to step outside one's own sphere of personal preference and appeal to a wide variety of taste is, I think, one of the most difficult challenges to the design book author, and that is the greatest achievement of this book. I was drawn to the soft pastels of what the author classifies as "Romantic" and "Nurturing," as well as the icy blues of "Winter Frost". I am always amazed when someone picks up the book and pours over the insufferably ugly "Traditional" palate featuring a red carpet, forest-green walls and a plaid couch, but there you go. Something for everyone.
   
   The author pairs photos of interiors, exteriors, and nature with a paint chips that approximate the look-and-feel of the illustration, which I found to be a fun approach. "Parisian Cafe" and "Marrakech" are two intriguing examples of using a certain place to inform color selection. The essays on color are a little cliched, too ofen embroidering the obvious (blue is "the color of the sky," we are told; pink is "soft and innocent" and red is "the color of excitement") but the photos are lovely and the general approach teaches one how to deconstruct an image or a place into a palette that can be used in an interior.



5. In my opinion this Leatrice Eiseman book is much better than the "Colors for your every mood" (L.Eisman). You will find plenty of color resources and answers. Some time she is very focus in psychology and emotional reactions and forget the practical side.

4 comments about Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures of Unwanted Houses.

1. The Taunton Press with their great sense of style and photography combined with knowledgeable authors, who have taken the time to document the deconstruction and salvage process, make this book a must in the bookcases of contractors, architects, designers and any building owner considering salvaging or using salvaged building materials.



2. I've always liked the idea of salvaging architectural details from building being torn down. Now here's a book that goes way beyond merely saving a fireplace mantel or some columns. Here's what it covers:
   
   Chapter 1 Unbuilding Opportunities
   Redevelopment
   Rural Property
   Military Bases
   Urban Renewal
   Remodeling and Renovation
   Building Auctions
   Habitat for Humanity ReStores
   What to Unbuild
   
   Chapter 2 Deciding on Unbuilding and Salvage
   Your Level of Involvement
   Making Sure the Building Is Sound
   Permits and Code Requirements
   Making a Visual Survey
   Case Study: Survey of a Deconstruction Candidate
   
   Chapter 3 The Materials You Find
   Develop a Plan for the Material You Remove
   Assessing What's Reusable
   Selling Your Stuff
   
   Chapter 4 Getting Started
   Organizing the Site
   Tools for Unbuilding
   
   Chapter 5 Safety and Environmental Health
   Make Safety a Priority
   Safety Equipment: The Last Line of Defense
   Working at Height
   First Aid and Medical Services
   Fire Prevention and Protection
   Lead-Based Paint Hazards
   Asbestos Hazards
   
   Chapter 6 Site Preparation and Soft-Stripping
   House and Site Characteristics
   Preparing the Site
   Soft-Stripping
   Loading Items from Soft-Stripping
   Cleaning Up
   
   Chapter 7 Whole-House Deconstruction
   Maintaining the Building's Integrity
   Roof Tearoff
   Removing Interior Wall Finishes
   Removing Electrical, Plumbing, and Ductwork
   Removing Roof Sheathing
   Removing Rafters
   Getting the Material to the Ground
   Taking down Trusses
   Removing a Dormer
   Removing Ceiling Joists
   Removing Siding
   Removing Walls
   Removing Subfloors
   Denailing
   Stacking and Loading
   Project Closeout



3. We live in an age of recycling. It's not only environmentally sound, but economically profitable. This applies just as much to reusable and salvageable building materials from structures scheduled for demolishing, as it does to ordinary newspapers and soda cans. Now U.S. Forest Products Laboratory research engineer Bob Falk has teamed up with Brad Guy (Director of Operations at The Hammer Center at the Penn State School of Architecture) to publish "Unbuilding: Salvaging the Architectural Treasures Of Unwanted Houses" an instruction guide to salvaging materials that can be reused and recycled from homes and other buildings by literally and carefully dismantling the original structures piece by piece. These materials can include ornate hardware, period lighting fixtures, windows, doors, mantels, hardwood flooring, and anything else that continues to have esthetic and commercial value. Often these are 'yesteryear' items that cannot be matched by anything available to day and have great financial worth in and of themselves. The authors draw upon their many years of expertise and experience in advising about new tools, deconstruction processes, and alternatives to conventional demolition tactics. "Unbuilding" is strongly recommended to the considered attention of building contractors, demolition experts, and environmentally conscious salvagers, as well as non-specialist general readers with an interest in recycling building materials for their value, utility and esthetics.



4. This is a good resource for ideas. It reminded me more of one of the books you would find on the rack of a home center instead of a text book like it was marketed.

5 comments about Straight Talk About Reading : How Parents Can Make a Difference During the Early Years.

1. I purchased this book because my younger child is exhibiting signs of having reading difficulty in the future. In contrast, my older child learned to read on her own prior to entering school. From my own experience I realize that there is a wide variation in what children need in school. My easy reader would have found a "face the teacher and practice the sound" program exceptionally boring. I selected this particular book because I wanted "straight talk" on how a school could teach these two, very different, kids. Instead of the "straight talk" I wanted got a very biased presentation. For example, the child that gets phonics is "beaming with success." Secondly, the "researcher" reports the test scores that occur during "whole language" teaching but does not compare it to the scores that occurred during phonics periods. In addition, they do not identify the lag between when a child is taught to read and when they are tested. Thirdly, they should be more clear about why these shifts have taken place. My friends 2nd grader knows phonics well but cannot read because he cannot put it together in context. What happened to those kids in a highly phonics based program. Did they all "beam with success?" Lastly, a credible researcher provides a balanced report that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches. This book reports phonics as strong and whole language as weak. So, if you want "straight talk" on why phonics is the only way then this is a book for you. I you want to find a balance that will work for many different kids, then keep looking.



2. I am a teacher of children with mild to moderate specific learning disabilities who went through the teacher education program at Ashland University in Ohio. Like countless other teacher education programs, ours stressed only a "whole-language" model of instruction, to the exclusion of all others, especially those that stress explicit phonics instruction.

   I bought this book at a symposium given by the International Dyslexia Association, and I am so thankful that I did. As a parent of elementary school-age children I needed to know the things in this book. Specifically...

   *Why a book like this is necessary in the first place.

   *What is this "great debate" that reading teachers, and educators keep talking about?

   *How do children learn to read? Amazingly, this is not taught in many teacher education programs. Why? Because almost all of the research ever done on the issue, any research worth its weight in cotton candy points to the explicit teaching of phonics to be the way that most children learn to read. As the authors so beautifully, and succinctly point out "The English written code is a sound symbol code, not a word symbol code. That is the game."

   Parents of school-age children especially need to carefully read this book. Although I myself am a teacher, I believe in a "parent as consumer" focus in education, and, given this, caveat emptor! Parents need to know what they are getting in return for their hard earned tax dollars.

   Please email me if you would like to continue this discussion.




3. This book was truly spectacular if you are interested in really understanding how kids learn to read and what you can do to help! I learned so much from this book, if I had the money, I would buy a ton of them and give them out to anyone who has kids, will have kids, or works with kids.
   
   This book does an amazing job of developmentally (Pre-K through grade 3) describing the skills kids need to acquire in order to read. It fairly reviews the current debate on how kids need to be taught reading, what parents can do (tons of specific age appropriate activities & lists of good books based on reading level), and it describes the research based warning signs for a child who is at risk for reading difficulties.



4. This book explains the difference in teaching methods for reading and how effective the methods are. It is written for parents. I appreciate the facts presented on actual studies that have been done on methods in learning to read. As a parent of two preschoolers (and I am not an educator), I am now educated on how I can make a difference in my child's performance in school after reading this book. I like the recommended reading lists by age that can be found in the appendix or at the author's website which is www.proactiveparent.com . The author stresses that the earlier you are proactive - the better chance that your child becomes a good reader. It has been proven that it is much more difficult to become a good reader after the 1st grade. The author points out that usually reading problems are not detected even in "good" schools early enough. She details what parents can look for and what to do when your child is having a problem at a very early stage in leaning to read. The author also has a newer book titled "Parenting a Struggling Reader" that is more for parents with children with reading difficulties. "Straight Talk" is more written for parents of all children before their children read. "Straight Talk" tells parents how to be proactive to ensure their children love reading.



5. As a kindergarten teacher, this book has made a big difference on how to prepare children to read. This book offers many wonderful tips on how to help your child as parents to better equip your child even before a teacher introduces your child with reading concepts.

2 comments about Small Lofts (Evergreen Series).

1. I am remodeling my small loft, and this book has photos of many cool ideas. A lot of them are expensive and many more would never pass code in most U.S. cities, but the concepts helped me visualize how different materials, colors, and techniques might look in my space. I wish it had more floor plans and information about costs.



2. Good book for dreaming and for ideas to adapt to your home. Since these are small lofts instead of cavernous spaces, you can get some great ideas for small space living, whether in a loft, an apartment or condo, or a small house. A treat for the eyes, too.

4 comments about Home Makeovers That Sell: Quick and Easy Ways to Get the Highest Possible Price.

1. We own a San Diego interior design company (Anna Rode Designs), and frequently are called on to give advice to home sellers on ways to make their homes stand out from the crowd without spending a fortune. This book is an excellent reference for homeowners, who should take their advice seriously. Of course, it can't provide design advice like interior designers can, but it is full of sound pointers that any homeowner can do: de-cluttering, brightening rooms, cleaning, painting, eliminating personal items, and so forth. We recommend this book to our clients.



2. Plenty of books tell how to buy and sell homes and others how to remodel; but for a specific book on getting the most from a remodel project, HOME MAKEOVERS THAT SELL is the item of choice. Here are tips based not on home renovations but on over twenty years of experience as a real estate broker; from creating curb appeal by replacing shrubs and refinishing a driveway to using accent lights to make the most of a home's natural beauty. Any involved in home renovations and home sales needs this, so public libraries will find it a popular lend.



3. As a Realtor I use this book as an aid to clients on how to prepare their home for the the competive real estate market. I use many points of the book when speaking with clients.



4. This book really motivated me to make the necessary improvements to my home. I had been procrastinating a long time!

5 comments about Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements: Embracing All Those Which Are Most Important in Dynamics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Steam Engines....

1. well... it is what it says it is. I was under-whelmed. This is just a reprinting of old old patent drawings with very incomplete descriptions of the mechanisms described. In fact all of this is duplicated in "1800 Mechanical Movements Devices and Appliances" down to the word for word copy of the descriptions.
   Most of the diagrams are self explanatory; of those that aren't, very brief 1902 style descriptions which are probably abridged versions of the original patent application are only a little helpful. The rest (about 15 percent) still don't make sense.
   I was disappointed and I only paid 5 dollars for it.



2. This is a great collection of mechanisms for the curious. There is no kinematic, static or dynamic analysis; nor is it a source book for contemporary mechanism design. Instead there is an inspiring collection of mechanical innovation from the boom era of mechanical design.
   
   I have seen far, far, larger collections (well over 5,000 items) in academic treatises and a modern mechanism sourcebook may be more useful to the busy mechanical inventor - but there is still a lot of value in having this gem to hand.
   
   Dover has again produced a clear (though small) and robust paperback version of an old classic at a very attractive price.



3. What more can be said about this essential book for all gizmologists? This is a great book just to get the brain working.



4. The illustrations are well done, many of the mechanisms are repeated. The descriptions are dated. All in all, I would not buy this book again.



5. Keep in mind that this book 1) is paperback, 2) measures 6 1/4 inches wide by 7 1/8 inches tall, and 3) most every illustration is less than 2" square. All the illustrations are clear - printed in a grid on the left handside with a SHORT explanation of what it does on the right. The movements are described, but a lot of them leave me wondering what the heck you'd use them for in the real world. Certainly not as detailed of a book as I was expecting, but a nice LITTLE reference. On with a search for something more detailed!

No comments about New Apartments.

1 comments about MORE Woodworkers' Essential Facts, Formulas & Short-Cuts: Hundreds of All New, No-Math Rules of Thumb Help You Figure it Out (Woodworker's Essentials & More series).

1. This book is a must for "New Guys" to be on your shelf, and give you a quick reference. It is jamb packed with information! It is non-technical, practical and written by a technical guy. There are many things I have learned in "fixing things" and I come up with novel ways of doing it, but this guy is good! If you work with both hand tools and power tools, as I do, you may neglect a tool and find it rusty. Inside this book is alchemey magic for the small shop. Reversing the rusting process! Each page has something for us. It also tells me why, and if I want more, the facts behind it. Only one draw back, but it probably kept the cost of this book affordable. I'd like it to be on better paper, and have a few more pictures of what the project or technique looks like, so I can have a visual reference point.

1 comments about Five Minute Fixes: Instant Answers for Hundreds of Everyday Hassles.

1. Just purchased book for my fathers birthday. Wish that I had the book 30 years ago. It certainly would have made fixing things around my parents home a lot easier.