"Casa Mediterranea: Spectacular Houses and Glorious Gardens by the Sea, by Massimo Listri. Thames & Hudson, $45.

Listri, a photographer, takes us inside 39 traditional and contemporary homes overlooking the Mediterranean. Antiquity meets modernity in these inspirational luxury interiors, some alive with pattern and ornament, others spare and bright. Among the most personal spaces are those of designers and artists, including Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's mosaic-tiled kitchen and dining room and the gallery-like home of Fernando Botero and Sophia Vari. Also included is Salvador and Gala Dali's playful, exuberant home, now a house museum, with dressing room doors and walls covered with photographs and magazine covers of ... Dali. Even the book's padded cover is plush.

"Bob Hoover's Book Club" is available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.