The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
How is everyone’s week going? It was a quiet 4th of July, I buckled down and FINALLY finished all my July arcs. 😅 I have only 2 more August arcs to read and then a whole bunch of September arcs. Will be glad to read non-arcs soon but honestly, a lot of the arcs I got I’m so grateful for and have been really good this year!
Categories: Fiction, Family Drama, Mystery, Contemporary
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to The Dial Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Family is everything, even when it falls apart.
After the sudden death of a renowned artist, his four adult children travel to Italy to sort out his affairs with his much-younger wife, in this moving novel from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
World-famous artist Vic Kemp has relied on his four children ever since their mother died when they were young. Netta, the oldest, is a litigator who often serves as co-parent to her siblings; Susan, a housewife who cooks and cleans for both her husband and her father; Goose’s own thwarted artistic ambitions have left him resigned to a job in Vic’s studio; and Iris, the baby, drops everything the moment her father calls.
When Vic summons the siblings with the promise of big news, they hope their father is about to tell them he has finished the mysterious masterpiece he claims will be the capstone to his career. Instead, he announces he’s getting remarried. Bella-Mae, his wife to be, is apparently beautiful, a fellow artist—and twenty-seven to his seventy-six years. When his children dare to express concern, Vic decamps with Bella-Mae to his summer home in Italy. Six weeks later, he is found dead. There is no sign of his will, or his promised final painting.
Netta, Susan, Goose, and Iris gather at the house on Lake Orta to piece together what happened and prepare to bring their father’s body home. They spend the summer in a waiting game, living under the same roof as Bella-Mae, and forced to confront Vic’s legacy and the buried wounds they have incurred as his children. So who is Bella-Mae? Is she the woman their father believed her to be? Or is she the force that will destroy the family for good? How long can their old bonds hold?
With sparkling wit, compassion and tender insight, The Homemade God explores memory, identity, grief, healing, and the bonds of siblinghood—what happens when they splinter, and what it might take to find a new way forward.
Content Warning: parental death
+ I enjoyed the setting of Italy where this book takes place.
+ This story explores the sibling relationship and I find that very interesting because the personalities and lived experience in one family can be very different for each person. In this story we see how each sibling is different and the experiences they have with their father who has just passed away. I did like the sibling dynamics and family drama
~ Even though this book is just barely over 300 pages I had a hard time reading through it maybe because I wasn’t in the mood for it and it’s not the usual genre I read. But also felt disconnected from the characters. I liked learning about each of them but I never felt connected to them so I never felt invested in the story.
Final Thoughts:
I was not the right audience for this book but I did find the family drama and sibling dynamics interesting.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
It’s been a chill week and I’m finally making headway into The Knight and the Moth! I probably would have been done with it if it was an ebook but with hardcovers I actually have to find daylight hours to sit and read it. But it’s summer and when I sit and read, my daughter likes to start talking to me 😅🥰. So many July releases are coming out soon and I think I have 6 July arcs to finish still! I had 19 arcs for July to finish. It was a little too much on top of the books I was borrowing from Libby and books I was buying. 🫠
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
My trip to South Korea was AMAZING. I had so much fun, it felt too short but wow, it felt like a real vacation – only because vacationing with my kids and husband feels like I’m not on vacation haha, I’m still in caretaker mode…but this shopping tour with my sister was relaxing, even with all the walking we did because tours can be strenuous but it was good exercise for me. I needed that! We met some really fun retired ladies (I hope to be traveling like them when I’m their age!). It felt like I went outside and as the kids say today “touch grass”. 😅 It felt so nice to let my mind let go of responsibilities for a week. SIGH…take me back! I didn’t get much reading done (it was actually nice to take a break from that too), but I did manage to read one book on the trip.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
Hi everyone! Kids are on summer break – yay! But my son is still getting over a cough. We had the laziest day on Sunday so all I did was read. Now it’s Wednesday and I have a doctor’s appointment. I have been packing for my South Korea trip which happens on Sunday. Just a few more errands to take care of before then and then I’ll be on vacay. I’m excited to go to somewhere new!
What are you currently reading?
The Knight and the Moth by. Rachel Gillig – I haven’t gotten far because I’m reading the hardcover and I need daylight for that (but I read mostly at night). Might have to read this one after my vacation.
More arcs to knock off my July netgalley list! And then I’ll be moving on the August arcs! I don’t have a lot in August but why did I sign up for so many in September?! I think it’s funny that in November, I only have 1 arc to read. 😅
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
Okay now that The Knight and the Moth came in, I’m going to try finish that and Summer in the City, two hardcovers on my shelf. But I really am working through so many July arcs – only 7 more of them to go. 😬 I want to knock off a few more before I go on my vacation to South Korea. I don’t think I’ll have time to be reading there, maybe on the long plane ride? I’ll be bringing my kindle, so maybe I can finish a book or two. It’s Wednesday and it was a busy weekend and of course my son is sick again, he was just sick 3 weeks ago! Hopefully he’s okay to finish out the last week of school (but he wishes he doesn’t have to lol). Hope everyone is having a good week so far!
The Homemade God by. Rachel Joyce – this is another arc that I got gifted, but never requested, just started and I’m 4% in. It’s something different from Fantasy so I decided to read and review it.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I kind of don’t know what to read right now because I’m waiting for my copy of The Knight and the Moth to come in. So I’m trying to read more July arcs, but I have a lot of fantasy arcs so I do need to break them up with other genres. I actually can’t believe I read 5 contemporary books this past week! But they are so much shorter (thank goodness) than the recent romantasy books, it’s really nice to just get through something under 400 pages!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
We are counting down to June, and my vacation! I’m excited but also nervous too? So I am trying my hardest to get through July arcs – I had 18 and now I have 12 to go 🫠. But I also see in September I have 12 arcs to finish…then Oct-Dec…barely anything. Yet, I also want to read the newest books – reader problems!!
The Courting of Bristol Keats by. Mary E. Pearson – 64% – I got the audiobook. I think I have to borrow the book again. I’m 64% through with this audiobook but I feel like I haven’t gotten a grasp of the world building through listening to it.
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I finally got some audiobooks for this month – and why did so many library holds become available to borrow at the same time?! Also my son came down with a cold or the flu or some virus on Sunday – he went to school the past 2 days but last night he had a fever so I said he is staying home today. I’m trying not to get his germs – I’m already dealing with allergies from pollen and volcano vog! We just need to get through this week. 😅 And forget my book buying ban – I give up lol…the pretty edges are too enticing. 🫠
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