Starting in Ireland during the potato famine, a family is driven to emigrate to the U.S. for a better life. Parents and four children land in Philadelphia to begin anew. Aidan and Susan Curran begin in a society unfriendly to the Irish. Through determination and hard work, they eventually improve their lot and become people of substance. The children go on to their own lives. One becomes a Catholic nun, one a teacher. The two men start small in real estate and eventually own a good portion of South Philadelphia. They have their trials and tribulations, become involved with the business classes of the city and move on to better things. One son has a child who is affl icted with asthma, causing them to build a home on the South Jersey coast to ease the symptoms. The home originally a summer cottage, fi gures greatly in their lives ever after. The son grows up to be somewhat of a genius. He goes to medical school and opens a practice. He marries and raises fi ve children. During his lifetime he becomes adept at the practice of medicine, pharmacy, painting and poetry. He conquers several languages and becomes an amateur boxer. He joins the Army Medical Corp in 1918 and leaves his four children and a wife expecting a fi fth, to go to war. While stationed in France he is decorated as well as wounded. He returns at wars end to fi nd his only son has acquired the same symptoms he had as a boy. For the childs health, they decide to move permanently to the Jersey shore. He opens a practice there and all through the 1920s life goes on in a calm wonderful way, although he is aware of some nagging seemingly minor medical problems. The Depression comes and he fi nds that during the war, when his wife was the only one to answer to, his lawyers and bankers had robbed him blind. From a life style of wealth and comfort the family is forced to go on Relief to get food on the table. The doctor looses all his real estate to taxes, treats his patients for free and experiences faltering health. All they have left to their name is the house at the shore. The doctor fi nally realizes that the mustard gas he was exposed to has been killing him ever since he was in the army. At his death, the fi ve children who grew up to expect life would always be good and comfortable, have to change their lifestyles. A challenge when none were prepared to do so. The story does not have a happy ending. But no one ever said life was fair. The house at the shore is the only survivor

Highlighting thirty-five spectacular recently completed houses overlooking sea, lake, river, and ocean, selected for beauty and variety across the globe, Houses by the Shore features homes that demonstrate the extraordinarily diverse ways that today's leading architects and interior designers build and design homes on the water and new approaches homeowners are taking to life on the shore. Frequently elegant and uncluttered, these houses serve as models of smart and often exquisite design with lots of ideas for homeowners who don't necessarily live in a waterfront home, but who wish to have something of that appeal and sensitivity in their own space. A range of projects encompassing myriad geographic and cultural inspirations show some of the world's most inviting residences, built in stone and glass, in wood and steel and concrete. The houses vary in size and style, though all within the realm of the modern, from open plan homes that include terraces and rooms that flow from indoors to out, to spaces flooded with light and views. Each house is photographed comprehensively with detailed interior and exterior pictures and plans, and placed into context through the lens of widely respected editor Oscar Riera Ojeda and descriptive texts written by design critic Byron Hawes, to give readers a privileged look at the best of shore-side residential architecture. With its beautiful modernist homes set beside the golden sands of the gulf coast of Mexico or upon the romantic islands of Greece, from Finland to South Africa to New Zealand, Houses by the Shore is a paean to rooms with a view.

A new blockbuster from the bestselling creator of Alex Cross. 'James Patterson does everything but stick our finger in a light socket' New York Times

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.

When the Bennett family arrive at the shore house to spend the summer together, they bring more baggage than just suitcases... When Kaye Bennett, matriarch of the Bennett family, summons her adult children to the shore house, she anticipates a vacation full of nostalgia. It's a chance to relive the carefree joy of summers past: basking in the hot sun, cooling off in the surf and enjoying long, relaxing evenings watching fireflies on the deck. But when Kaye's son and daughter arrive, late and uncooperative, it becomes clear the family desperately need to reconnect. Kaye and her daughter Stacy have been quietly at odds for years and resentment has grown around words unsaid. Faced with spending the summer months in such close quarters, Kaye is determined to remind Stacy of happier times and why she once loved their beautiful beachside home. But both Kaye and Stacy are holding something back... and only when a heart-stopping moment on the beach puts what Stacy most loves at risk are the two women finally able to set free the secrets in their shared past. Will opening up to each other about what's in their hearts allow the Bennett family to finally heal? A story of love, forgiveness and the power of family bonds, The Shore House is a heartfelt summer read. Perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Pamela Kelley and Nancy Thayer. What readers are saying about Heidi Hostetter: 'Beautiful. This is a story of hope and faith. Reading this story made me feel good and the ending left me smiling! I can't wait to read more of these wonderful, entertaining and heart-tugging tales! Loved it!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Great book!! I cried, I laughed, and I clapped for these three sisters who found their way. I loved this book!! This is a must read.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'A wonderful summer read! Heidi weaves a story of family renewal. I could hardly put the book down. The characters are so interesting. Ready hated finishing as I want to know what happens next.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I loved the characters and the story. The story unfolds with ease and a few surprises thrown in. I can't wait to read more by this author.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'This book was a real page-turner... made you want to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Awesome reading! One of those books you want to read just one more page because you have to find out what happens!!!!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

From the New York Times Bestselling Author of On Ocean Boulevard! Caretta Rutledge thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind. But an unusual request from her mother—coming just as her own life is spinning out of control—has Cara heading back to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers. Before long, the rhythms of the island open her heart in wonderful ways as she repairs the family beach house, becomes a bona fide “turtle lady” and renews old acquaintances long thought lost. But it is in reconnecting with her mother that she will learn life’s most precious lessons—true love involves sacrifice, family is forever and the mistakes of the past can be forgiven. The perfect summer read!

Your next trip to Five Island Cove...this time to face a fresh future and leave all the secrets and fears in the past. Kelli is ready to make memories with her son in the house where she grew up. It needs a lot of work, but with the sunlight coming through the colorful stained glass windows, she's confident she can do it. When she gets way over her head, she calls the people who she can rely on for anything. Eloise is only a few weeks away from tying the knot, but she shows up at the house on Seabreeze Shore with sandpaper and her fiancé's power tools. They get to work, only to find Kelli's father's will underneath a floorboard. What's really in the will changes everything for Kelli and her mother. Laurel, Alice, Robin, and AJ arrive just in time to help Kelli and Eloise decide what to do next. At least until the storm warning comes, and they all have to hunker down in a house that has very little food and not enough beds for everyone. As they worry about their loved ones, their bonds of friendship will be tested one more time, when one more devastating secret comes to light... ...all within the walls of the house on Seabreeze Shore. Join best friends, old and new, Robin, Alice, Eloise, Kelli, Laurel, and AJ as they learn about themselves, strengthen their bonds of friendship, and learn what it truly means to thrive.

Long recognized as a classic of American nature writing. This chronicle of a solitary year spent on a Cape Cod beach was written in longhand at the kitchen table, in a little room overlooking the North Atlantic and the dunes. In 1964, the Cape Cod house was officially proclaimed a National Literary Landmark. In 1978, a massive winter storm swept it off its foundation and out to sea.

A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER! A 2021 Alex Award winner! The 2021 RUSA Reading List: Fantasy Winner! An Indie Next Pick! One of Publishers Weekly's "Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020" One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies” Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy that's "1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in." (Gail Carriger) Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He's tasked with determining whether six dangerous magical children are likely to bring about the end of the world. Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light. The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours. "1984 meets The Umbrella Academy with a pinch of Douglas Adams thrown in." —Gail Carriger, New York Times bestselling author of Soulless At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

In a genre all her own, Sandy Gingras mixes prose, poetry and artwork to delight readers with witty observation, reflection, and a depth of feeling in her deceptively simple series of books. In a House by the Sea -- a collection of short essays, stories, prose and illustrated vignettes, inspired by a metaphorical beach house -- is about emotion and feeling as much as place, mood and memory as much as the beach. In the essay ''This is What Makes Me,'' she writes of being ''oriented in life by a beach (more emotional than geographic) that I keep walking on; a summer (more attitude than season) that I keep longing for.'' ''A is for Attitude'' offers a whimsical beach womans A-to-Z (A is for Away. Away, beach woman, away with you to the beach! You've had enough reality.). ''A Beach House -- What the Realtor Should Have Told You'' and ''What the Beach House is For'' remind us that what we really desire at the beach (or anywhere) can not be bought. This book is a sweet, gentle reminder that simplicity and happiness emerge from living in the moment, from finding beauty in one's surroundings and an awareness of the moods and feelings that make life whole.