Making Toast

So, I am in a book club. I love being in a book club; I love reading, I love learning and I love visiting with other women one night a month and hearing about their ideas, joys and struggles. I also love being in a book club because it means I read books that I did not choose and sometimes I really like those books and they open windows to the world for me. So I figured that I would do some book reviews on my blog of the books that I am reading in my book club.

This month we read the book "Making Toast" by Roger Rosenblatt. This book is a memoir written by a father whose daughter unexpectedly dies at the age of 37. He and his wife move in with their son-in-law to help him with their 3 small grandchildren. The book is very touching in some ways. The love that Roger and his wife have for their daughter and son-in-law is very palpable throughout, but I have to say that I found the book somewhat disconcerting. I am almost exactly the same age as Roger's daughter Amy who passed away. It is hard to read about someone your own age in your own situation dying and leaving behind their children. I found it especially difficult to read about Amy's children's experiences after her death and to think what would happen to my own children in the same situation.

 I also found the book difficult to read because of the lack of hope in the Author, Roger. I am sure that it is true to his experience because I think that he did and does feel hopeless about the loss of his daughter, but I do not believe that this life is the end of everything so I found Roger's bleak outlook rather depressing. Everyone works through the grieving process differently; I just don't know that I will always benefit from reading about that experience.

I would give this book 2 1/2 stars out of 5.