Review: Making Toast

by Roger Rosenblatt
Memoir (2010)

My Synopsis

True story about the author's 38-year-old daughter, Amy, a pediatrician, who died unexpectedly of an undetected heart problem and how he and his wife moved in with their son-in-law and three grandkids to help raise them.

My Thoughts

I really wanted to like this book. I had read about it and just knew it was my kind of book. The 5 on my keyboard was begging to be used.

Instead I pushed the 2. Two stars! I haven't given a book a 2 star rating in a long time. In fact, I don't usually finish a 2 star book. But I forced myself.

Why didn't I like it? I didn't like the author. Have you ever felt that way? I felt that way about the author of This Lovely Life. I didn't feel a connection to her or to this author, Roger Rosenblatt. He was unlikeable. To me anyway. He bragged about who he knew, what famous people came to his daughter's funeral, what articles and other books he's written, who he has worked for, and what awards he's received. I know he discussed more than that, but I couldn't get past his arrogance.

When talking about his daughter's wedding:

We had asked Amy what sort of ceremony she and Harris wanted, and she said they'd like the cartoonist Garry Trudeau, a close family friend, to marry them.

And this:

The morning of the wedding, Amy, Ginny, and Jane Pauley, the television journalist and Garry's wife, were having their hair done at the Quogue beauty parlor...

It went on like that throughout the book, and each time he mentioned someone he knew or a book or article he had written in the past, I disliked him even more.

I didn't like the incomplete, random thoughts and choppy writing. After reading a paragraph I would think, "Huh? Where did that come from?"

I thought the book was a nice keepsake to give to his family. And by naming every friend and family member who sent flowers, said a kind word or helped out in the days after Amy's death, I felt it served as a giant thank you card. That's it.

Do I Recommend?

No. But I know others enjoyed it so be sure to check out more reviews. Obviously this is just my opinion :)

Source

Library (thank goodness)

My Rating

2/5

Other Reviews

Caribousmom
Bibliophile By the Sea
Killin' Time Reading
A Bookshelf Monstrosity

(Everyone above loved it except Killin' Time Reading)

Three Cups of Tea

by John Mortenson



I don't know what is wrong with me. This was a #1 Bestseller and I could not force myself to finish it. Had I followed the "if-I-hate-it-after-50-pages-the-book-stops-here" rule, I would not have wasted my time. But, nu-ohhhh! I thought, okay maybe I'll like it when I get to page 340. At least I did stop before then....at page 280. Why did everyone love this book except for me?

** 2 Stars Sheesh, how can I give it any stars when I didn't even finish it, you ask?

I'll tell you why....

Because at the beginning of the book the guy (Mortenson) tells about his failure at climbing K2, an enormous mountain in Pakistan. A Pakistani dude rescues him and that story is great and exciting. The PD (Pakistani dude) takes him to his village and nurses him back to health. Mortenson can't get over the poverty and school-less village, so he promises to go back to America, raise money and build a school for the PD's village. That is all great and exciting. It's also cute how Mortenson meets his wife and she has to put up with his obsession to build the school in Pakistan, which he accomplishes. He ends up building several schools in Pakistan. But then it just gets boring and monotonous. I know, I know, how can raising money and building schools for poor kids in a Taliban-infested area just after 9/11 be boring and monotonous? I'm not sure. So even though the beginning of the book was good and I was thinking this is gonna be a "4-star"-er, I just lost interest for some reason.

Oh and by the way, the #1 Bestseller a while back, Eat Love Pray? I thought that was just okay. I couldn't figure out what all the hoopla was about.

So there you go.

Anyone else read this book? If so, what did you think?