I've only done one book thus far, and that was right after iLife '05 came out so it is a newer one. I made the large 11 x 8 1/2" picture themed book with the hard black cover. I just tossed a bunch of pics together of me and my friends from over the past year, and I think it came out very well...I plan to make another one shortly. But here are a few shots of my book:
This is what the book comes in, this handsome looking box!
As we can see how it fits in there when the box is opened
The book itself comes in a protective plastic envelope which has a sticky sealant that can be resealed to keep it protected
Here is the book opened on end...just another pic
Some inside photos, I could pick the layout of the photos and how many photos to put on the page anywhere from 1 to I think 16, but this is all pre-specified settings you can choose from, and you can't deviate. For example they do not have a layout page for 5 photos to a page, so you can't do that. But it may be different for other sizes or styles I am really not sure.
And here is another sample page.
Hope that helps you out some!