This is only summer reading, and it is fine when one takes it for only that. Any more serious reading, for the meaning searcher, will stumble unto the unlikely premise of a few gay developers that end up transforming within a year a restful and forgotten Rhode Island resort. Yeah, forgotten, sure..... The characters described tend to be a little bit stereotyped, and the plot turns way too much around real estate, including the aging queen buying a little palace with private harbor. The coming out/coming of age subplot starts well, but ends up predictable of course. More interesting is the old antique dealer closeted queen transformation, which by itself and with more development could be the seed of a nice book. But as I said before, if what you have in mind is a book to take to the beach, or to the country home of your friends upstate, for the week end, then you might get a few smiles out of it.

After reading both of the current spotlight reviews, I decided both were partially right. One complained that the book is chock full of one dimensional characters, and mentions that book publishers should stop putting muscle boys on book jackets. Well, first I've done a fair amount of research on what's selling in gay fiction, and it seems to be books with nearly naked men on the cover and plots that contain 18 year old boys. The Summer They Came has both. Anthony is arguably the main character of this book, and the transformation of the town into a gay beach resort affects him the most personally. For Anthony, the conflicts created by the "gay invasion" result, more or less, in his own trial by fire.

The book does have a lot of characters. Similar to soap opera-ish works like Larry Kramer's Faggots or Armistead Maupin's Tales of The City, William Storandt's work follows a lot of different story lines. Storandt has some charming characters, a lot of them are the town locals, but he would have done well to spend more time defining characters and making them more recognizable. I'd recommend making a character list so you don't have to keep flipping back to figure out who's who. Storandt has two characters named Jim. He also uses similar names like Wesley and Wendell.

As far as use of stereotypes, it's hard to disagree that Storandt falls into the trap of using them, but then I also feel that he's portrayed the culture of a gay beach resort pretty accurately. I suspect the old families of Fire Island were probably pretty shocked with the rather r-rated turn their community took when gay men started arriving in flocks. Storandt builds slowly but steadily to a final stand-off. He's demonstrated that some of the gay men have been troublemakers (specifically, Bart Connors, the media gadfly) and that some of the locals are rallying to support the newcomers. I feel it's a fair portrayal that neither side is completely in the right.

I feel the biggest flaw with the book is that there's no strong resolution. There are some unanswered questions. Storandt brings up the concept of anonymous sex in a variety of ways without ever telling us if the community is just going to "wink" at the practice while counting their cash or whether they're going to mount a backlash to the affront. There seem to be some growning tensions between the developers. There was a near fiasco at the climactic "circuit" party that might have ended the popularity of this new little resort. Perhaps we should all look forward to "The Summer They Came Back."

I'm an avid reader of "gay" fiction and nonfiction. Twice I've resided in Provincetown and am acquainted with Fire Island and Palm Springs, etc. Imagine my delight in reading William Storandt's engrossing new book -- twice till 4:00 a.m. (He'd won me over as a fan with his beautifully-written first book "Outbound.)

As the book jacket warned, one can hardly put it down. Charismatic and appealingly-developed characters abound; and the unfolding story is heart-warming, dishy, timely and brilliant. Not since "The Front Runner" have I enjoyed creating in my mind a future film of a meaty gay novel of this caliber. Perhaps this book, like "Auntie Mame" and "The Berlin Stories" will have a number of iterations. Let's hope so! Anyway, I think it's here to stay in our burgeoning rack of quality literature, and "The Summer They Came" is way near the top of the heap -- right along with White, Holleran, Vidal, Picano ate all - - -

The Retreats are mostly exceedingly expensive or wildly funky (it takes a special person to really enjoy a sojourn in a teepee). The photography is beautiful, which is a saving grace for the book.

Perhaps this reader is overly attuned to comfort, but I was dismayed at all the circular stairways, ladders, and challenging skywalks to enter or navigate these homes-away-from homes. Some were set in such boggy, swampy areas, all I could think of were mosquitoes and other unpleasant insects. If readers are expecting examples in the United States, they will be disappointed; most of the retreats were set in the British Isles.

The book illustrates a variety of settings: seaside, desert, mountains, lake and forest as advertised. "Little Retreats" is fun to read, but I would not recommend it as a practical guide.

"Little Retreats" covers what it sets out to do. It's not a house plan or how-to book---and it doesn't claim to be. It succeeds in the task the author set for it, with pictures of charming, whimsical, personal homes. Places are quaint without lapsing over into funky and the text is concise. Looking through it is like a tiny vacation as one imagines having a private space of one's own as a refuge.

I rated it at four stars instead of five because while I like it, I'm not passionately in love with it or transformed by it. (The recently released "Storybook Style" raises the bar for perfection in a home & garden book, in my opinion.) It's an enjoyable book and I'm glad to have it in my collection.

a wonderful and diverse photo essay on many small houses around the world. Great detail provided - so great ideas that can be projected into your own project.
good writing providing background and approach to each house by its owners, great photos.

Altho this book has lovely photographcs, I never got into the text due to the fact that it focuses entirely on NorthEast Coast gardening and is of no use to coastal gardeners any where else. I should have paid attention to the pub synopsis. The pics are entirely of East Coast gardens and do not relate AT ALL to the more rustic coastal areas of the West. Just a warning that this book is only for those wanting to use it to garden in the East Coast area...I didn't know & incurred the cost to send the book back.Hence, only two stars.

A great book on seaside gardening. I strongly recommend it

I've hated this book. It makes fun of the poor downtrodden souls,it laughs at the helpless struggle of poor unfortunate men and women waiting hopelessly to exhale. Cruel and uncharming.

Connolly disects the British class system with a hilarious examination of snobbery, greed and jealousy wrapped into a farcial summer holiday. This is laugh out loud funny made all the better because I read it on a beach in Tahitit - about as far removed from the British coastal holiday described in the book as you can get.

Harmless bit of fluff that looks more like a children's book than a serious golf tome. No real new information about the courses themselves, but the watercolor illustrations were good enough to keep me from returning the book. Can't recommend buying it unless you like pictures more than words.

Quite a book with awesome illustrations. Has all of the great links of Scotland with great watercolors. I keep coming back to this book. I have to go to these courses now!

One of the best books written about the links courses of Scotland. The reader can tell that the authors are passionate about the courses. The authors capture the very essence of what is like to play Scotland's link courses in text and illustrations. I took this book with me when I visited most of the courses. What a great find!

I admit that I am an avid and often satisfied reader of James Patterson's books. Long before he became famous for his Alex Cross series I read and enjoyed Patterson's earliest titles such as The Midnight Club and Season of the Machete. In recent years, in addition to loving the Alex Cross books I have also enjoyed some of this author's stand alone books like Cradle Will Fall. Now that I've read The Beach House by James Patterson and Alex DeJonge (the co-author of the previous Patterson title, Miracle on the 17th Green), I do wonder why Patterson wrote this book, why it required two authors and what went wrong.

The Beach House tells the story of the "accidental" drowning of a young part time waiter during a gala party in the Hamptons. While many of the residents are "summer people," this young man is a high school dropout and what we call a townie. To Peter's family it seems unlikely he would be at the beach at this hour let alone drown since he was a strong swimmer. And despite the police's initial investigation his law school brother Jack and father decide to do a little investigating on their own. They both feel that Peter was lured to the beach on some pretext but they can't figure out why. Their first attempts meet with icy glares and then threats as it becomes apparent that the ultra wealthy couple, the Campions had something to do with it. And it doesn't help matters that this couple's daughter is Jack's former girlfriend. What follows next is a roller coaster ride of a book, which includes drugs, pornography, large sums of manner in unknown bank accounts, a bit of romance and surprising facts about the lifestyles of some of the characters.

Sounds like it would make a good book, right? But it didn't. The book becomes mired in same old, same old and while it only takes a few hours to read, Patterson does favor short paragraphs, it really has no pleasant after taste. And the writing is so simplistic that one wonders why Patterson wrote this book. One would think with his fame and fortune Patterson might slow down a bit and take more time to pen a well-written book. Either that or people are left to wonder why two authors aren't better than one.

The dust jacket leads off with the claim that the authors have "written THE beach read of the season...", so let's start by acknowledging this is an entry in fun summertime reading, not classic literature. That said, Patterson and de Jonge have collaborated to amuse and entertain for a most pleasant afternoon read. Take out the blank and half-blank pages, and what's left barely extends beyond page 200, so it is a fast run through. The short (typically 3-page) chapters add to the hustle of the pace; and the story per se kept our attention to the very last page. So you should find your pages turning in a pretty big hurry.

The plot is essentially a mystery, though not one about who got killed (Peter Mullen, a likable 20-year old who spends much of his time in bed, with company); nor who did it (we find that out pretty quickly); nor will the police catch the bad guys. Rather, it's almost a morality tale where the older brother, Jack Mullen, a recent law school graduate, devotes a year or so to solving the whole crime, proving the finding of the original coroner's inquest to be faulty (bought and paid for); and then pursuing justice as best he can with a little help from his friends and relatives. A little romance along the way just helps our feet curl up more sand.

We find as good a plot as Patterson has dreamed up in a little while, and before it's all over, we get bowls full of corruption, greed, big money parties and mansions, lust and illicit sex, romance, justice and injustice. The ending should satisfy just about everybody's idea of what's fair, but the suspense that leads us there makes the book tough to put down.

What more can one ask for fun at the seashore?!?!

This is the fourth book of JP's I've read this summer...okay, I was late to join his fan club and have a lot of catching up to do.

Having read so many of his books in such a short span of time I can tell you what draws me to want to read the rest of what he's written.

1) He's the master of suspense. He knows how to construct a plot that keeps you turning the pages.

2) He creates characters you really care about. You find yourself cheering for them, whether it's Alex Cross or one of his "one-off" characters in his stand alone novels.

3) He's very kind to other authors and is constantly plugging other books he likes within his own novels.....I find this very generous.

4) He seems like a really nice guy.....last night I finished "Cradle and All" and was impressed by his sympathy for others. He's the kind of guy you wish there were more of in the world....especially single guys! (yes, I know he's married.) But he's the type you'd love to invite to a dinner party, he comes off as smart, entertaining, and compassionate towards those around him.

5) And finally, he writes really fun, fast-paced novels. They are an absolute pleasure to read!

Bottom line.....I recommend all of his books!

Palm Beach Garden Club put out this book to give those who love gardening and creating a special tropical retreat in their own backyards. The photos are ok as it would be nicer if they showed the landscaping use of the plants in some photos instead of showing the plant so you see what it looks like. Excellent resource for those in South Florida. However, Tropical Gardens and Tropical Plants by William Warren are far better. Yet for the neophite this book isn't bad--I found it a useful reference as long as you don't take the advise from the orchid section

I was hoping to find a nice selection of cabins, cottages, and villas, but what I found instead was perhaps only a handful of floorplans with differing elevations. Although it is a somewhat thick book, it is very deceiving with the variety of the content within it. Unfortunately, there's not too much.

The plans in this book are refreshing and original. They have a lot of contemporary amenities such as big master suites and great rooms; but for the most part, these homes are fiarly reasonable in size. It is nice to see a home with under 2,000 sf of living space have a real luxury estate feel to it. Also, most of the plans tend to have a very large garage/basement space which is left for future use as playroom or workshop, which adds a large degree of flexibility to the plans.

I tend to look through home plan books as an imaginative exercise of architectural appreciation, and I'm not looking to build anytime soon. This may make my interest in the book different.

This has to be one of the most poorly written books ever published. Pages and pages of random words and phrases.
There's no plot. Time and location change from sentence to sentence without warning. I had to force myself to keep reading and even then I didn't know what the book was about.
The author seemes to make up words and describe the same thing over and over.
Don't waste your time or money on this one.