When asked why I like to draw buildings my simple answer is that buildings don't ever complain that you make them look fat. The real truth is that buildings do speak to me. No, not in a creepy, haunted-house way or anything like that, but through styles, materials, and proportions, buildings tell much about their creators' hopes and aspirations. Respect has to be paid to the fact that most of these structures have lifespans far longer than our own. Lifespan is not inappropriate here; buildings are far more organic than they initially appear. Not too dissimilar from the way our own bodies constantly replace cells, our houses, schools, and stores undergo the replacement of roofs, windows, hardware, utilities, and more, throughout their existences. It is not unrealistic to think of these structures as shared exoskeletons that we shape around the ways we live, learn, and work. When I moved sight-unseen to Florida I discovered a delightfully welcoming population and a rich diversity of architecture. Both continue to make me proud to call this my home. Charles Greacen

Includes DeSoto memorials, Georgia's state seals, and the first steamboat patent.

Greer Hennessy is a struggling movie location scout. Her last location shoot ended in disaster when a film crew destroyed property on an avocado grove. And Greer ended up with the blame. Now Greer has been given one more chance—a shot at finding the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino—which will be perfect for the film's climax—when the bad guys blow it up in an all-out assault on the townspeople. Greer slips into town and is ecstatic to find the last unspoilt patch of the Florida gulf coast. She takes a room at the only motel in town, and starts working her charm. However, she finds a formidable obstacle in the town mayor, Eben Thinadeaux. Eben is a born-again environmentalist who's seen huge damage done to the town by a huge paper company. The bay has only recently been re-born, a fishing industry has sprung up, and Eben has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. The only problem is that he finds Greer way too attractive for his own good, and knows that her motivation is in direct conflict with his. Will true love find a foothold in this small beach town before it's too late and disaster strikes? Told with Mary Kay Andrews inimitable wit and charm, the New York Times bestseller Beach Town is this year's summer beach read!

National Geographic leads book-loving adventurers on a whirlwind tour of 500 literary landmarks and offers practical trip-planning advice for visiting in person. Peppered with great reading suggestions and little-known tales of literary gossip, this book is the ultimate browser's delight.