The Lonely Planet guides are excellent for any locale..but this edition (covering Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Portugal and even Morocco) is a must-read for the quintessential backpacker jumping on a plane for Europa. These guides excel at recommending lodging of many price ranges (from youth hostels to 5-star hotels) and meal choices of the same range (excellent recommendation for outdoor markets.."buy a loaf of bread, a block of cheese and a bottle of wine here"..which is a plus as many guides catering to this area focus on only older travels with large budgets..or persons seeking to spend only a dollar a day or some insanity..it's always good to have the most information possible..and it's included here. Entertainments ideas from free plaza and park visiting to museums, discotechqes, architecture, boat rides etc. etc. are included..good for young and old. It even lists culture-sensitve information such as appropriate dress for visiting churches and monasteries as well as travel-safe tips for women. Book your Eurorail pass and get going.

Lonely Planet has great books and this one certainly was. It's very thorough and tells alot about things that interest travellers. They are up to date and tell you the pros and cons of the different countries. I liked it alot and I know that other people will too.

Loving Yourself First captures everything a person needs to know and to be to live a happy, healthy, successful life. It promotes self-healing, self- renewal and self-love. There are exercises at the end of each chapter to help engage the reader in a self-discovery process. The book helps readers disign a bule print for their personal lives. There is humor, drama, excitement and lots of common sense information. If we use it we can't help but get better. This is a book that will not draw dust from sitting on the shelf. it is written to be used over and over again.

This book really hits home for woman of all ages. The author has done her homework and it reflects in the rich knowledge and expertise she shares with her readers. Loving Yourself First, crosses cultural and socio-economic backgrounds gracefully as the resounding message rings home to every woman--love yourself first!!

There seems to be very limited information available on the technique of monotype. This book fills that void by demonstrating the incredible variety of effects possible using the monotype method. There are no projects, per se, rather it teaches techniques that help you create your own masterpieces. Many pieces of example artwork are found throughout the book.

A monotype is a one-of-a-kind print made by transferring a painted image to paper. The book starts out with an introduction to materials including plates, mediums, solvents, panting tools and paper as well as hand and press transfer equipment. It also covers studio safety and finding workshop facilities.

Techniques are next including working into a light or dark field and both hand and press transfer.
These include step-by-step instructions accompanied by demonstration photos. Working in specific mediums including watercolor, acrylics, water-soluble writing instruments, monoprint paints (Createx), oil paints, water-based oils and alkyds follows. A section discussing special oil-based printing inks for lithography, etching, printing and serigraphy is also here. There is even a chapter on special techniques including using masks & stencils, embossing and creating collages.

The final chapter gives an overview of monoprints, which combine monotype with other print making processes, and mixed-media monotypes. This includes intaglio, drypoint and engraving, as well as linocut and collagraphic monoprints.

There is a nice list of suppliers as well as interesting biographical notes on the artists featured in the back. This is a great book that displays the great diversity in mediums and results available with monotype.

This book is a valuable resource of methods used in making monotypes. Ms. Ayres reviews every aspect of making a monotype from the tools, the ink or paint, and the process of transferring the image. All the printmaking terms used when describing this art are expertly explained and illustrated. It is clearly not a medium restricted to artists familiar with printmaking. The work of many artists are presented along with the ingenuity they have used to transfer their work. A very valuable resource book both for the artist and those wishing to learn more about this art form.

This book is effectively organized and exceptional in its bredth and depth of coverage, it is a book whose time is right and whose content would be favorable for any film music buff or newbie. It would also be a helpfull tool in libraries and music stores.

This book covers the whole gamut of soundtracks: film, TV, theatre, etc. It's a book that every soundtrack fan should have in their library. Good, useful information, along with well-written, honest reviews. Highly recommended to all music/film/TV/theatre fans. You can't go wrong with this volume!

My 15 month old didn't like this book at first, but now she constantly gets it out of the book pile and wants me to read it. I love it because to illustrations are very unique, something that I look for when I buy books for my daughter. I recommend it!

Wonderfully amusing book for young children with great artwork and vivid descriptive wording. Very creative.

This is a great book which I feel challenges preconceptions and stereotypes of beauty in a modern world.
The photographs have a distinct edge and are furthered by the Texts which echo the work so well. My favourites are the Rachael Cusk and Nick Cave Essays.

I heartily recommend this book, it is really intellegently put together.

This is a collection of beautiful photographs of mostly unbeautiful people and places. This is a great challenge and he meets it well. The more I look at this book, the more unfolds for me. These are dense, graceful photos from around the world. He uses cross processing, black and white and simple color with the eye of a real master. There are a collection of short stories which I have not read yet, but anything with Nick Cave in it, gets my money. For a first book, this is a keeper.

I just got this book. I thought it was a set but it's not. Anyway, the book has B&W pics of every card together with the card's meaning and symbolism. They are very artistic and full of symbols. I would reccommend the deck just from what I've seen in the book. They are based on the Kabbala system, like the Thoth Tarot Deck which I already have. I think the Thoth cards are more artistic, but the books you can get for the Thoth deck are not as informative or as easy to use or interpret. I think that a Tarot beginner would be better off with the Navigators Deck and book.

This book/deck set is one of the best I have ever used. The artist/author uses both Jungian psychology and symbolism to help guide the reader on a spiritual journey. I have used this book/deck set often and found it to be most useful in helping clients understand their lives more deeply. The paintings are also very beautiful. Each card is rich with symbolism that helps to support the message that the card delivers. I highly recommend this book/deck set to anyone interested in a more esoteric Tarot based on the Hermetic Cabala.

For a long time, I struggled with 'The Portable Kristeva,' 'Black Sun,' 'Powers of Horror,' and the 'Kristeva Reader,' but I've finally found a great, accessible introduction to Kristeva's writing on psychoanalysis and the problems of modern culture.

Kristeva sees a generation of materialists who have abandoned old ways of finding spiritual coherence. What we've lost, Kristeva says, is an understanding of the soul. Kristeva isn't arguing that the soul exists - she simply argues that we no longer think of our lives in terms of a soul, so we no longer have a language to express our spiritual wholeness. This leads to a fragmentation of our lives that leaves us feeling alone, but not one, and transforms our lives into thousands of broken experiences, broken senses, broken values. We are unable to find perspective, unable to assign meaning; instead, our subjectivity is shattered.

Kristeva weaves her gorgeous narrative concerning the loss of the soul with a series of clinical/critical discussions of specific patients and issues in psychoanalysis. Here we find stimulating applications of Freud and Lacan that are disturbingly compelling, and constitute some of the most brilliant and most accessible writings in the history of psychoanalysis.

This is a great book for people interested in psychology, critical theory, religion, feminism, or just a very intelligent book on the new maladies afflicting the modern soul, the new ways in which we're all disintegrating, and a new vision for the relationship of language and the psyche, a suggestion for the revitalization of the soul as a way of relating to ourselves.

One of the most renowned researchers in the field of Social Studies, Kristeva has gone deeply in the facts of the soul in our modern world, exercising her acute views on the disturbs that affect the human soul. The two halves of the book: The clinic and History lead us through a path full of novelties regarding the presence of man/woman in this world and how this very world causes so many new diseases...not only in the body, but mainly in the soul of them. Lacan and Freud would be surprised to see how their works were so consitently revisited

This book is a cultural anthology of the African world for children as young as two years old. But the book really is set for older children and young adults. Besides the normal introduction to numbers and animal recognition, this is actually a work on music, poetry, and life interwoven with man, animals and their natural environment. Therefore, a good read for peoples of all races. The illustrations and colors beautifully project the imagery as it challenges the young mind to seek deeper meaning to what is presented. African adults reading this book will see it as a memory down their own childhood. I doubt though if it is different for other cultures. As a parent, a peek in this book was a trill, and I continue to enjoy reading it with my little girl. If you are looking for an illustrated book to teach your children the interdependencies of life, this will be one of it.

This is one of the most beautifully illustrated books that I have ever seen! Every page is filled with bright colors and cheerful prose and images. It is a perfect book for the age group intended, but it is also a wonderful treat for an adult. The images are so delightful that I can look at them over and over again. I especially like the colorful borders found on many of the pages. This is the kind of book that you will want to keep forever - even when the children "outgrow" it. I highly recommend this book.

I picked this book up on recommendation from a friend, and was intrigued from the first page. Ms. Lin has a beautiful writing style, and she writes very simply and elegantly about her family's home village-- from the legends around it to the real people in her life who loved it. Her quiet poetry keeps the book twisting from past to present-- even a brief geneology section, which could otherwise be dry, is enlivened by historical notes and comments on each person's career and family. I'm amazed at how far back this history has keen detail-- it makes me realize how fractured my own family tree is, and how young my country! A quick, charming read.

"Parasol Tree Village" is more than just a delightful story of the Lim family. In addition to providing detailed genealogical charts, this little book includes not only charming legends such as the story of the Tree King God, but also the family legends, nursery rhymes and lullabies that are a part of the author's heritage. Ms. Lin summarizes in an interesting way the tale of Emperor Zou, his vicious nephew-emperor and his evil concubine, Dah-chi. She also gives an account of the belief in the Goddess of All Trades, Mah-tzo. All of this is written in a beautiful, poetic style. The reader will discover unexpected gems; an explanation of Chinese astrology, and beautiful sayings that were handed down in the author's family, one of which is "A centipede has a thousand feet, but it crawls no faster than a snake".

Anyone interested in folklore, the cultural heritage of the Taiwanese people, and Chinese history should own this small volume.