Coffee Table Book, not serious planner
592759
This is a coffee table book with big pictures and easy reads. This shouldn't be your only book to plan a trip but it is a great start. Excellent for those of us who live near some great parks and may only have a day to be there.
4441401
Bought this book for my fiance hoping it would help inspire us to add a few of those "special touches" to our upcoming wedding. This is more of a coffee table book of nice pictures rather than something that gave us great ideas we could use for our wedding.
177383
This book is pretty wonderful.  It is loaded with pictures and you can definately get some ideas.  This is not a how to book, there is very little to read at all.  Great for a coffee table!
458039
As a vintage Halloween collector I was excited to find this book in my search on Amazon.  Everything that's pictured on the cover is what is inside, printed in color in matte finish on thick paper, not cardstock.  I was hoping for more than hats and nut cups, etc. such as games and jokes and riddles but these were not included. The pictures inside have to be cut out with scissors, there are no perforations but there are directions as to how to fold and assemble them, which I did not do as I just wanted the book for my collection.  I imagine a child would need quite a bit of help in putting these things together, unless they are older or naturally skilled in crafts, which I am not.  Also since the paper is not extra sturdy I don't think these will hold together very well.  The images are nice, but overall this book was not worth getting excited about.
3948135
The best part of this binder is the timeline/checklist found at the front. I feel like most of the other sections are excessive. For instance, it comes with many pages for a detailed guest list; I know very few people who want to keep up with hand written guest list (I know I don't!). I would recommend buying Mindy's "The Wedding Book: The Big Book for Your Big Day" instead. I purchased both, and found her book to be much more useful; it contains all the same information plus much more without wasting pages for you to fill in with details most people would keep in electronic format today, but that's just my opinion.
3949419
It's OK . It has a few tables that are useful ,but after this book is full, I'll just keep a small notebook with me and can keep the same information for a lot less money.  A 5x7  , 3 ring binder with graph paper would make one better for what I need
48851
Some joker here said this book was an "Excellent coffee table book." When you think of a coffee table book, you think of a big book with large pictures.

This book is 6 inches...it's a combed bound landscape pocket book.

Sure the pictures and the short essays that accompany them are lovely...bring a magnifying glass!

However, the essays often point out the shortcomings of the book. In one case, it talks of how a garden was built to be enjoyed from multiple points of view; however, you only get one photo of the garden. In another case, a pond garden is described as being enjoyed from a boat; but the picture is from the shore.

For you zen folk: the nature of the book is not in harmony with the content of the book. A pocket book can never cover the scope of these gardens.

I gave it two stars because it might be good as a learning aid to those studying Japanese gardens...the landscape binding make it a pretty good flash-card system.
4038907
This is NOT a "decorating book" for for someone about to redo a room in their home, and looking for ideas.  The book has a curious layout I found interesting: small size, no dustjacket, heavy on text; that should tip off potential readers that this one is a little different. It is more like a design essay (and it's highly readable), with photos, close-ups of fabrics, endpapers spread throughout with fancy script font, etc.  There is no "how-to" here, no HGTV budget tips, no "oh THAT'S what I'll do with my lamp!" inspirations.  You just sort of curl up with this and learn about their approach to design (they probably hand this to potential clients). The book is a luxury, so spend money elsewhere if you are looking for design reference.
4070206
(1993 Bloomsbury Books edition. Paper substantial, but not acid-free. Sewn binding. No index or list of sources.)

This is a book for notes to be written in, on each page facing a page of (updated) recipes, from, "manuscripts, newspaper scraps, or well-thumbed leaflets," and (presumably) books.
The Edith Holden decorations are details from the original "Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady" , so nothing new here. And their printing is not very crisp.
Nice enough, but had I understood what it was, and though it was a bargain, I would have preferred to get one of the more in-depth books on cookery of the time.

On the other hand, if you Want a book to write in, you could certainly do worse. Food notes, or a travel diary, for an Edwardian Country House Life tour perhaps, or anything you like, in this or the other "Notes" books in the "Country Diary..." spin-off series, ("Nature Notes", "Garden Notes".)
3643889
This book contains photos, measured drawings and some accompanying text with construction details. There are no cutting lists nor directions. This is a book of ideas. It would be of interest for the furniture maker wanting some casual reading, some design ideas and perhaps inspiration. The word "projects" in the title is misleading: this is not a set of project instructions.
1139966
This book is a wonderful work of art, and it presents the topic in an interesting and creative style -- but it is not a practical manual. It's very heavy on "creative flair" and very light on useful, straight-forward advice on effectively designing with type. There are a few exercises (very few) and they seem like they were tacked on as more of a marketing ploy than as a way to genuinely enrich the material. The book is a bit of a hodgepodge, though a beautiful one, and it reminds me more of a coffee-table book than a textbook. For those looking for something a little more straight-forward, I'd recommend "Designing with Type" by James Craig.
1083973
Unfortunately, the designer of this product forgot all about an identification page.  There is no where to write in the name and contact information of the owner.  Fortunately, I had made some tiny stickers with my name and address, at least, to stick into the front cover which has the current year calendar printed in it.  (Inside the back cover is the next year.)  Further, there are not any extra blank pages for general notes or addresses.  I suppose they thought having a spare notebook would take care of this, but I don't care to carry it around.  The little book mark is cute but I can see that pressed paper wearing thin and ungluing soon, and no longer attaching.  Thankfully, this is not my main planner, which is a full-sized loose-leaf notebook style.  I just wanted to have something on hand that had the entire year in it for quick notes that I would transfer later on. The planner is disappointing but functional. Great colors!
4176570
The book has nice photos, and detailed enough instructions to do most of the projects (some projects use very similar methods), but it's limited in scope. It has sections on planters, an house numbers - those are useful, and also on concrete cakes for a concrete garden party - which is useless.

The part which is most interesting to me, which would be various concrete formulations and moulding techniques, is not given much depth.

Make sure you look at the table of contents before you buy this. There are no hidden gems in the book which are not covered in the TOC. Also, once you get the ideas, e.g., to cut out a mould to make house numbers, you hardly need the book. I don't think I would buy it again.
364647
I chose this planner beause it is ring bound so you can add pages if you need to.  Unfortunatly the paper in the binder is extra wide so normal paper does not fit right.  Also there is no guest list which was disapointing and there isn't much space for writing ideas.  I ended up buying another  3 ring binder and combining the two.  The timeline was nice though because most timelines are 12 months long but I only had 6.  The timeline in this planner is 6 months long which was helpful.
132080
It's just a book of photos.  Most of the photos don't even have captions.  No explanations of anything.  No source lists for the furniture or materials.  Most of the rooms are not particularly small and much of the furniture is iconic (and expensive!) midcentury modern pieces.
4277873
Nice Planner, but without a calender sorta pointless.  The pages are also a bit crowded and if you are planning on taking notes and fitting them on one page, you best know short hand.  On the upside it is a sharp looking binder, but as mom use to tell me, "Never judge a book (or in this case a binder) by the cover."
644920
"Live-Work Planning and Design: Zero-Commute Housing" is not a coffee table book. It is a reference book for professionals and/or professional planning to convert to live-work space.

I was expecting a more coffee table type of book with lots of pictures similar to House Beautiful but this is not that kind of book. The book comes with history and plans on how to utilize and convert not just a home but a building or tract of homes into a live-work area.

I found it interesting on that level, especially the history side of how certain urban areas (such as TriBeCa in NYC) became defacto live-work hubs.

There are some color pages in the center of the book but that's about it.

I liked the book. It wasn't what I expected but it is very professional and I learned a lot.