Agreed. Some of the effects are amazing in the way they set you up for the next effect. One of my favorites is T.N.T. which is the first effect in Light -- it shows a shuffled deck to the spectator and then through the effect sets you up for any variations of out of this world. This goes beyond what most people think of self-working.
In the introduction, Giobbi quotes Dr. Jacob Daley who said "If you take a card trick with three sleights and replace the first sleight with a subtlety, you get a better card trick. If you replace the second sleight with another refinement, you get a small miracle. But when you replace the third sleight, then you usually get a mathematical atrocity." These books are full of small miracles.