We don’t have a poetry expert on staff here at THS, so when we received a copy of Peter Hankoff’s Haiku, Inc., a reflection of corporate culture in 17 syllables, it fell to me our resident corporate drone to review. The work is geared towards the casual reader who can identify with the often frustrating aspects of office bureaucracy. It will be from this perspective that I critique.
When choosing topics to write about here, I usually cross my fingers and hope that you all are at least somewhat interested in it before I hit the publish button. Luckily, I don’t think I have to worry about that when I’m talking about Looney Tunes. Who doesn’t love Looney Tunes?
The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes is a new book by animation historian Jerry Beck, and he definitely loves Looney Tunes. Jerry is the co-author of the website Cartoon Brew, animation consultant on a lot of the DVDs I review here, and author of more than 12 books. I’ve always been a big animation history fan and love reading his books and listening to his commentaries.
Saturday Morning Central loves DK Publishing. They publish all sorts of awesome books that are equally as cool for adults as they are for kids. Back in October they let me participate in their blog team for the LEGO Star Wars Visual Dictionary celebration they had, and it was a lot of fun. Now they’re back with another Star Wars book, the Star Wars Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia.
The title is pretty self-explanatory, and if you’ve ever had one of DK’s books before, you know what to expect: large spreads of images packed to the gills with information and trivia. This title is no different. It’s just over 200 pages long, and has just as many characters. Since this is a character encyclopedia, obviously there isn’t any sections devoted to ships or planets, but you probably already knew that.
If you’re a fan of DK Publishing’s books (like the ones I’ve already reviewed) and you’re a gamer, then you’re going to love the Halo Encyclopedia.
I’m a big Halo fan, but I’ve never read any of the books or comics. I had no idea how fleshed out the Halo universe was until I read through this massive book. It’s around 350 pages, and it’s jam packed with information on characters, species, weapons, vehicles, and history.
The book starts with an introduction by Halo guru/Master Chief creator Frank O’Conner, as well as introductions to all the major aspects of the Halo universe. From there the book is broken up into sections, much like other DK books.
I promise, this will be the last LEGO Star Wars post in a while, but consider it the most important. Now that the contest is over (scroll down for winners), it’s time to round up my thoughts for an official review of LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary from DK Publishing.
I grew up with the classic DK Star Wars books like the Incredible Cross-sections and the Visual Dictionaries, and this one definitely is just as cool. Actually, it may be the coolest, since it combines Star Wars and LEGO into one awesome book.
The book is hardback with an extra-thick front cover. That’s because the bottom right corner holds an exclusive A New Hope ceremonial Luke minifig! At first glance the book seems short at 96 pages, but once you read through it all (and realize it’s for ages 7+), the book seems the perfect length.
One of the coolest features of the book is right up front; the timeline. It lists every LEGO Star Wars set from the last ten years, which is a very cool resource for collectors. From there it takes you through each film’s sets and details every minifigure, all in the classic DK style.
