No, this isn’t a book about delicate dwellings shaped in fine porcelain. Bonnie Shemie’s successful and informative “Houses” series has taken a big jump, away from Native American houses, all the way to China. Houses of China describes, in readable and concise text, a variety of structures from all over that country, as well as the important role played by the philosophies of feng shui and Confucianism in their design. The scope of this title is much broader than the earlier books in this series, however, and Houses of China is a less effective book because of this. All of the houses are dealt with in one or two pages, and many of them require a more involved examination. The “fort-like houses of the Hakka,” for example, or the “courtyard house,” are described in less detail than they deserve. Readers will miss the labelled illustrations and the overhead perspectives of village layouts, which helped clarify matters in earlier titles. Illustrations of interior layouts of some houses are not provided and sometimes the illustrations are confusing, as with, for example, the underground cave house. Nevertheless, the inventiveness of the many peoples of China in creating homes for themselves will be sure to interest a wide range of readers. Houses of China is an involving and useful book, and it deserves a place alongside the other “Houses” books on your library shelves.