The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

August 20, 205

The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce

Vic Kemp's four adult children have always been obsessed with him. A neglectful father, he left them to the care of a series of au pairs while he drank, had affairs, and painted commercially successful but not critically acclaimed paintings. At the age of 76, he shocks his children by marrying a woman 50 years his junior who he met online in a chat room and had known for only four months. Shortly after the marriage, Vic is found dead at the family's Italian vacation house, drowned in the lake. The four siblings rush to Italy to find out what really happened, and more importantly, to find his will and his final painting that was supposed to be his masterpiece.

I really enjoyed the author's first two Harold Frye books as well as Miss Benson's Beetle, but this story was very disappointing. It was billed as a mystery but it's a family drama about four adults in their 30s who are completely emotionally dependent on their artist father, dealing with the fallout from his sudden death. I almost DNF at 35% because the story was so slow moving and there didn't seem to be much more to say about any of them. I did a lot of skimming after that. The story gets a little more interesting at about 65% and is essentially over at 75%, at which point it becomes a different story and goes on for another 100 or so pages before it finally fizzles out. If you like The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, you might like this too. Otherwise, can't get those hours back.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

One of Us by Dan Chaon

August 15, 2025

One of Us by Dan Chaon

After the death of their mother, twins Eleanor and Bolt flee to an orphanage to escape from the clutches of their murderous fake uncle Charlie. They find themselves on an orphan train headed west, and somewhere in Iowa, they are "adopted" by a carnival owner who specializes in circus sideshow acts. They find a new family among the carnival folk, even though they feel they are not special like the others. But Charlie isn't letting go that easily.

Dan Chaon takes us on a creepy journey through a carnival sideshow and the performers who work there. Like carnivals and circuses aren't creepy enough, he had to toss in a serial killer. Will appeal to readers who enjoyed Geek Love or Nightmare Alley, but with a horror slant.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

A carnival sideshow

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

August 3, 2025

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

Olivia Dumont is a ghostwriter, working with the rich and famous to craft memoirs that can be marketed as being written by the famous subject. But she is blackballed and her career has tanked after being sued for publicly slandering a fellow ghostwriter. About to lose her home to pay the settlement and legal fees, she is desperate for work and agrees to take on the memoir of a famous horror writer who was accused of murdering his two siblings. Now, 50 years later, he claims he is ready to reveal what really happened. The only problem is, the writer is Olivia's father who she has been estranged from for two decades.

Slow moving. It takes Olivia a looooong time to get to the heart of her father's manuscript. Ultimately unsatisfying, as there is no real resolution to the mystery. A cast of unreliable narrators and unlikeable characters. It does have a cool cover graphic.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith

July 1, 2025

Fun for the Whole Family by Jennifer E. Smith

The four Endicott siblings have been estranged for several years. When sister Jude, a well-known actress, summons them to meet in North Dakota on short notice, they are all curious enough about why, that they drop what they are doing to travel there in the middle of winter. 

Disappointing. Based on the title font and colorful cheerful cover and the blurb that it was “joy-filled,” I was expecting a happier story. Instead it was a tear-jerker with uber drama. There was enough foreshadowing that I had a pretty good idea where the plot was going, although it took a long time and loads of stupid ideas to get there. I know a lot of readers really liked this book and the travel sections were okay, but overall I found it depressing, especially the ending. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

December 11, 2022

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Louise and her brother Mark have never gotten along. When their parents are killed in a car accident, they leave a controversial will that gives Mark the house, furnishings, and money, while leaving Louise with her mother's "artwork." After some bickering, they agree to sell the house but first they have to clean out all their mother's junk: dolls, puppets, puppets that look like clowns, paint by number pictures, string art, even a set of stuffed squirrels from when their mother took a taxidermy class. There are strange noises coming from the attic, and the dolls and puppets appear to be moving around. At first, Louise and Mark suspect that the other one is screwing with them (because that's what siblings do). But when a realtor does a preliminary walk-through, she tells them that the house has weird vibes and that they need to do a spiritual cleansing to get rid of the negative energy if they ever want to attract a buyer.

This is a really creepy book that has a cohesive storyline. Horror fans should really enjoy it but they'll probably want to read it in the daytime with the lights on.

(For me, dolls and puppets are in the same category as clowns, monkeys and mimes, when it comes to creepiness. I was creeped out before the actual horror even started. I would have packed it all up in trash bags and driven to Indiana (or maybe Ohio, since Indiana might not be far enough) to get rid of everything.)

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The television in the novel keeps coming on by itself, and it's always playing the Home Shopping Network selling dolls

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

June 14, 2022

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

After getting fired from her job, alone and broke, Jess scrapes together enough cash to go to Paris where her brother Ben lives. He wasn't thrilled to hear that she was coming to stay with him, but he didn't say no. But when Jess arrives, Ben is not at his apartment and in fact is no where to be found. When he doesn't turn up, Jess starts to dig into his life, and soon discovers that the other residents of the building all have something to hide.

Meh. Not as good as The Guest List, Foley's previous book. The author is good at building suspense but the story is very slow moving and not that interesting. Jess is jumpy and paranoid all the time and often acts like an idiot (more so than most characters in books). Read The Guest List or Clare Macintosh's The Last Party instead if you're looking for psychological suspense fiction.

A cool old Paris apartment building

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

May 29, 2022

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Several seemingly unrelated characters and events, beginning in 1912 and moving forward 300 years, and set in places from a forest to the moon, come together to form a narrative. Time corruption occurs at various points, when characters hear the same music and experience the same forest while they are in totally different places. What happens when someone makes a tiny shift in history (or the future)? Does it change how the future spools out? Does it really change anything?

Loved this one. The plot of this book is very hard to describe, just like the author's previous book Station Eleven, to which it is similar in style. Characters from the author's previous two novels (Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel) appear here and figure in each others' past and future stories. I loved Station Eleven, but The Glass Hotel not so much. Mandel's style isn't for everyone, but I really enjoy her stuff.

Sea of Tranquility on the moon

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

January 29, 2022

One Two Three by Laurie Frankel

The Mitchell triplets have lived all their lives in the town of Bourne, a place where nothing much ever happens. The town made national news 17 years earlier when the town's water supply turned green. The triplets watch their mother fight to get justice for the girls as well as others in the town who were damaged by the accident. Then one day, a moving truck arrives in the town, full of new people and old secrets, and things in Bourne start to change.

I didn't finish this one. I have read and enjoyed Laurie Frankel's other books, but not this one. I just couldn't get interested in the characters or their story. 

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

December 10, 2021

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

Megs Devonshire is a scholarship student at Oxford, studying maths. The other love of her life is her younger brother George, who is gravely ill and not expected to live much longer. George becomes fascinated with a book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and when he learns that the author, C. S. Lewis, is an Oxford professor, he begs his sister to go see Lewis and find out where Narnia came from.

Megs manages to meet C. S. Lewis (known as Jack in his family) and his brother Winnie, who are two of the kindest men who ever lived. Rather than tell her outright about Narnia, Jack tells her about growing up with Winnie, and Megs brings the stories home to tell George. 

This was one of the most heartfelt books that I read in 2021. Yes, you'll need a box of tissues. It's sad at times but oh so lovely. Megs is the best sister ever. Highly recommended.

C. S. Lewis

The Kilns, C. S. Lewis' Oxford home

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

August 2, 2021

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Four famous siblings throw an end-of-the-summer party that is the event of the season in Malibu. No invitation needed, just show up at the mansion. But this year is different - by the end of the night, the Rivas mansion will burn down to the ground and all of their lives will change.

Disappointing overall. It's not well-written, which is unusual for a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel, and it needed a good editor. Lots of drama. The main character is a problem (actually all of the characters are a problem). Nina is a super-famous super-gorgeous super-model who is also a world-famous super-surfer. She has three famous siblings, a famous husband, a famous father, and famous friends. Come one - can't someone who has written as many books as TJR come up with a heroine who isn't famous for everything? You know, so that us mere mortals can empathize a little?

I have mixed feelings about TJR's novels. Some of them (Daisy Jones and the Six, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo) I loved, the others not so much. Malibu Rising is in the "not so much" category. Diehard TJR fans will love it, but I'm starting to think that her writing isn't for me.

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

 December 18, 2020

When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald

Zelda is a young adult who is on the spectrum and diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome. She lives with her brother Gert. Zelda is obsessed with Vikings to the point of dressing like a Viking and carrying a sword. Her goal is to live a legendary life based on Viking values. When she learns that Gert has resorted to some illegal activities and questionable companions to support them, she determines that it is up to her to save Gert and herself.

This one wasn't for me. I had a problem getting into this book since it was hard to relate to the characters. There are a lot of positive reviews but I found Zelda to be a difficult narrator. When narrators are on the spectrum, I always wonder how accurately the author is portraying them. The author addresses a number of controversial topics including a long section on how Zelda wants to have sex with her boyfriend who is also on the spectrum, and how developmentally delayed young adults still have the same desires and needs as other young adults. I do love the cover art.

The Poison Garden by Alex Marwood

January 25, 2020

The Poison Garden by Alex Marwood

After dozens of dead bodies are discovered at the compound of a survivalist cult in a remote area of Wales, police find one adult and a few children are the only survivors.  Romy is the single adult to survive.  She is pregnant and hiding her pregnancy because she fears that the police won’t let her go if they find out.  Romy and her two younger siblings are taken in by their aunt, their only living relative, who grew up in a fundamentalist religious colony outside London.  But as soon as Romy is away from the prying eyes of authority, she begins searching for other cult members who were either absent at the time of the murder/suicide, or left the compound years earlier, and it soon becomes clear that Romy has her own agenda. 

Who doesn’t love a good cult book?  This one has overtones of the Jonestown mass suicides in Guyana in 1978.  Unlike Marwood’s previous books, The Poison Garden isn’t really mystery or a thriller, although there is plenty of suspense about life within the survivalist cult and as the former cult members try to assimilate (or not) into their new surroundings.  There were a number of errors in the text, so I hope a good editor went through and corrected the text before publication (for example, Romy was in the hospital for several weeks after being removed from the compound – since present day passages are set in 2016, a routine blood test or physical exam would almost certainly have revealed her pregnancy).  A fast and entertaining read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

September 14, 2019

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

After their father’s sudden death, siblings Maeve and Danny Conroy are quickly evicted from the Dutch House, their family mansion, by their vindictive stepmother.  They aren’t even allowed to take the things that had belonged to their own mother who had abandoned the family when they were young children.  Periodically, Maeve and Danny park across the street from the house and just watch, trying to catch sight of their stepmother or stepsisters.  They are not sure why, since neither wants to enter the house or speak with the inhabitants.  The obsession with the Dutch House continues throughout their lives, as does the mystery of their mother.

With its meaning for each family member, the house itself is actually the main character, the common thread in the book, the thing that keeps pulling them back.  It’s like the house has some kind of magic, with glass walls (it’s noted several times that an outsider can see right through the house), a third floor ballroom, and a (hideous) dining room with a starry ceiling.  When their father purchased it, the house came complete with the furnishings, down to the artwork on the walls and clothing in the closets.  Another reviewer mentioned they were creeped out by the cover art, but the painting on the cover is actually part of the story.

The younger sibling Danny is the narrator, and Maeve is the center of the story of Danny’s life, since she stepped in to fill the role of their missing mother.  Danny has a rather juvenile world view in that he has never questioned or considered many of the things about his life (household help Sandy and Jocelyn being sisters, why his mother deserted the family, his impact on Maeve’s life), long after he should have been mature enough to figure things out.  There is a fairy tale aspect as well, with Maeve and Danny being a modern-day Hansel and Gretel, thrown out of their home by their wicked stepmother, spending their lives longing to find their way home, even having three fairy godmothers who look after them in the form of Sandy, Jocelyn, and Fluffy.

I loved this book, and I think it’s of my best reads for 2019.  Patchett does such a great job with characters and big family sagas.  The Dutch House reminded me a lot of Commonwealth, Patchett’s previous novel, switching back and forth between time periods and locations, and also of The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt in the wide scope of the story.  In addition to the fairy tale theme, there is a lot of history repeating itself and things coming full circle.  I think this would be a great book club selection, since there is so much to discuss.  The only thing to be aware of is that the story is not told chronologically, so if your book group doesn’t like stories that jump around, this title is not for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in return for a review.

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin

July 31, 2019

The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin

Fiona Skinner is 102 years old, a famous poet who has agreed to give one last public reading in 2079.  In 1981, her father died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving his wife Antonia (Noni) to raise their four children (Renee, Caroline, Joe, and Fiona).  At their father’s funeral, seven-year-old Joe has a meltdown, grabs the fireplace poker, and starts smashing things in the house, particularly the photos of the family.  The adults do nothing, but the three sisters wrap their arms around him, effectively signaling the beginning of their lifelong habit of covering up for him.  Whenever Joe gets into trouble (and he does repeatedly), he calls one of his sisters.  And throughout their lives, they continually make excuses for him and clean up his messes.

Noni goes into a deep depression following her husband’s death, overwhelmed with looking after her family and her life, and neglects her children for three years (Caroline has a similar depression after they can’t find Luna).  The siblings refer to this period as The Pause, and the events of that time shape the rest of their lives.  As they grow to adulthood, it gets kind of boring hearing them blame everything on their father’s death and their mother’s depression.

The book title comes from the title of Fiona’s blog, The Last Romantic – she writes reviews of the sexual performance of her lovers (like Man #23 who she runs into at her brother’s engagement party).  The blog sounds like Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City, except more malicious and not as entertaining.  Fiona ends up falling in love with Will, Man #23, eventually marrying him - he's one of the most likeable characters in the book.

The format reminded me of Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (which I liked much better than The Last Romantics); the sisters’ obsession with their brother’s life reminded me of The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney (which I really disliked); and the 1st half of the book is far better than the 2nd half, like The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.  It got uninteresting and strange after Joe’s “accident.”  There was a lot of repetition (Fiona and Joe talk, and then Fiona has to call Sandrine and repeat the whole conversation verbatim to her; Renee and Caroline get Joe out of serious trouble in college and we have to hear it first from Caroline, then Renee, and finally from Fiona; a conversation Fiona and Joe have is repeated two or three times).  There is a theme of climate change that runs through the book but doesn't really go anywhere.  

Regarding the mother's depression and not caring for her children:  yes, in 1981, it was possible to lose track of people or be unaware that children were being neglected.  There were no cell phones (weren’t available to the public until 1984) or Internet (the World Wide Web was launched in 1991) or social media, so unless you lived nearby or made a point of checking, there was no way of knowing how anyone else was living.  Privacy was a thing in those days.

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

July 4, 2019

The Last List of Miss Judith Kratt by Andrea Bobotis

I was looking forward to reading this title since it ticks a lot of the boxes for me (family secrets, small towns, narrators looking back at their lives from an advanced age).  Judith Kratt is a 75 year old woman who has lived her whole life in the same house in a small town in Alabama.  The Kratt family was once the leading family in town, owning the local cotton gins as well as the only department store in the area.  But a series of misfortunes sent the family into a downward spiral and the youngest daughter fleeing from the town, and now Judith lives in her old house surrounded by family possessions, with only her old friend Olva as a companion.

Judith isn't happy to learn that her prodigal sister Rosemarie is returning to town after an absence of 60 years, and Rosemarie's return triggers changes and upheavals in Judith's orderly life.  She decides to create an inventory of the family's possessions, telling her story in the process.

This is a debut novel and it was interesting enough to keep me reading, although I guessed at some of the family secrets well before the end.  It contains many themes of Southern fiction such as small towns, old houses, siblings, and secrets.  I found it to be an enjoyable read, great for the summer, and look forward to more from this author.

Happy Independence Day!