I enjoyed this so much I even wrote a newsletter prompted by it. I think now more than ever it's important we think about what really a home is

I felt a general excitement in picking this book up. It seems, in various aspects, to fit with a number of the interests I have. And things started out promisingly. The general outline as well as the introduction left me wanting more, with a feeling of genuine intrigue as to how the author would tackle the principles laid out. This quickly unravels, however, as you begin to realise that below the surface nothing much is being said.

My thanks go to NetGalley and Penguin for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Finding philosophy in the home sounds exciting, new, and fresh. But the ways in which the various points are challenged in this book leaves something to be desired.

Philosophy of the Home is Emanuele Coccia’s meditation on the ways in which we live and how our surroundings, and the things we place around ourselves, play into our day-to-day life. Coccia uses various pieces of furniture and rooms in the home as jumping off points to dive into philosophical questions around social media, death, family, love, and more. Every single chapter begins with a promise of something more than it ever really delivers. This could quite easily be put down to the author not being the best at deciphering philosophical ideas in the jumping off points that he has personally chosen, but I feel that it is more so down to the fact that there isn’t really anything there. There is nothing to grab onto in order to land upon a hard hitting rumination. The ideas initially begin strong and then quickly transcend into high-headed, convoluted, abstract mess. Coccia floats around the initial ideas because there isn’t the strong link that he’s really looking for.

This is a book that holds many interesting ideas that never grow passed the initial moment. Ultimately it leaves you with a gentle interest in the echoes of it’s goals, and a heap load of disappointment in the final product.

A thought provoking and intriguing book, a reflection on the home. Interesting.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A cross between academic/philosophical conception of home and every day meditative essays about it.
Home as a physical space, psychological and sociological place, a personal space and its compartments.
I particularly recommend it to those who have migrated and/or moved houses or who wonder why they find a particular space more appealing.
A comprehensive, informative, deep and yet, comfortable read.

A interesting book idea but every sentence reads like the author just swallowed a thesaurus. I was expecting to be more on the differences between houses and homes or even just how different styles and there effects on us but this is literally a Philosophy book, which isn't for me.

This book proved to be an intriguing meditation on space - both public and private, physical and intangible - exploring what it truly means to live. I was hooked as Coccia skilfully deconstructed universal assumptions that underlie our conception of a home. In doing so he builds a novel domestic philosophy to challenge our experience of home, as we strive to create a world where shared happiness is more than a distant dream.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.