This is an easy to read story of Grace Hawkes the third born of four who is disconnected from her siblings after her mother’s unexpected death. Grace is numb; she walked away and hasn’t felt anything since she receives a call from her older sister and her older brother telling her she has to come. Their father is ill. Grace hasn’t seen her father since he walked out of them. This is Grace talking. We get to live inside her head and know her thoughts. She is quite annoying. The story evolves and Grace becomes more likeable. We also get to know the other siblings who also have been struggling since the death of their mother. What are interesting are the twists. Their father who walked out on them, never contacted them has made the brother his power of attorney financial and health care. He never divorced their mother, he married soon after her death and now they find themselves at odds with this nice old lady and her adult son. The story peaks with a Perry Mason scene. I would not recommend this as a book for someone who is still suffering from the loss of parent or parents. It certainly brought back some of those losses to me including tears. It reads really fast. I think it took about 3 days. ( )

I sometimes make assumptions about books from the cover and title and grab a book from the library shelves without even reading the blurb which is exactly what I did with this. I think I was expecting something lighthearted with its quirky title and whimsical cover illustration. I soon discovered A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents takes itself quite seriously. Grace separated herself from her family after the tragic death of her mother. She has made a life for herslf that doesn't include her siblings until her father, whom they haven't seen for more than 20 years, has a stroke and her family insists she returns to deal with it. Despite the serious themes including grief, abandoment and loss, I didn't really feel an emotional connection to the characters or story.The novel explores the siblings reactions to their mothers death five years before, their fathers dying and their relationships with each other. There are moments of genuine tenderness, grief and self awareness for the characters but for me it was spoiled by the less credible handling of other emotions particularly forgiveness of their father, and the rekindling of the relationship between John and Grace. The ending felt abrupt and far too neat to satisfy me.Overall I felt that the story and characters were compressed for convenience and could have been explored more honestly and fully. Not a bad read but didn't quite work for me. ( )

It took me at least 3 chapters to really get into this book, and I felt like some questions were left unanswered, but given the premise of the book, it was fitting.

Grace hasn't seen her father since her mother kicked him out 22 years ago. She hasn't seen her sister and brothers since her mother's death 5 years ago. She has forced herself to grow numb to the world. Then she receives a phone call: her absent father has had a stroke.

The family dynamics in this book really rang true to me. The characters were fully fleshed out and completely likeable. The slow revealing of family secrets keeps you wrapped up to the end. ( )

What a great read. We all have our own "life story," and our own way of handling difficult family situations. I loved the honesty of this book, as well as the added suspense of the step-family. ( )

I first found this author last year when I read her previous two novels. Needless to say, I was quite excited to receive an early reviewers copy of this book. I really enjoy not only the writing style of the author, but the characters she creates and the way she develops them. This book made me laugh and cry at times, but it was a beautiful story and I can't wait to see what Liza Palmer comes up with next. ( )