I loved this book!!! I was hooked within minutes and was totally engrossed with the two stories that ran parallel to each other regarding Rebecca and Buckley. Their characters were well defined as were the others that rounded out their stories. The author's craftsmanship was apparent throughout. With few words she was able to convey so much, she was never trite, and the story was never predictable. I hated to see this book end, but look forward to future works by this author.

Losing a child has to be every parents worst nightmare. In choosing to review Making Toast, a memoir written by a man who has suffered such a loss, I expected to be caught up in an emotionally charged discourse that would be somewhat difficult to read.

As an award written essayist, there is no question as to the quality of the writing. However, the book has no logical order and at times seems to have been written in a stream of consciousness. The narrative is told factually with little emotion perhaps due to the authors training an a journalist. It felt like he was an observer rather than a participant in the tragedy of this young family.

While sounding to be contradictory, the author's love and devotion to his deceased daughter and his extended family resonate clearly. I just wish he had been more forthcoming about his feelings.

Carolyn Wall can be compared to an artist only her medium is words. With very few words she has the ability of painting vibrant pictures that set the stage for a beautiful, multi-layered novel that is not only well written, but easy to follow. The characters are well developed and the plot is compelling and moves along flawlessly. From cover to cover, this was a difficult book to put down. Not only do I highly recommend this book, I look forward to future works by this author. I would rate this book a 5 plus.

What began for me as a seemingly mindless, predictable, slightly elevated version of the "chick lit" genre became a compelling read. While written in the present, more and more information is masterfully revealed in small increments. The characters become more than just one dimensional in their development as the story becomes more and more compelling. This simply told story becomes increasingly difficult to put down. While not wanting to reveal the ending, I can only say that it packed a punch. I would definitely recommend this book.

This is truly a gem of a book.

The relationship between a father and son of Chinese descent is only surpassed by the relationship of the young Chinese boy and a young Japanese girl in 1942 Seattle at the time of the Japanese internment camps. Historically it casts an eye on a shameful period of this countries past that is not ofter depicted in our fiction.

The book alternates between 1942 and 1986 where we meet the mature Chinese man and his son as they work to solidify their relationship.

While sounding simplistic, the book is filled with many other well developed characters which round out the book and provides many levels of plotline without being contrived or confusing

This is definitely a page turner that is hard to put down. It has enough meat to stimulate interesting conversation. As an avid reader I highly recommend this book.

The Toss of a Lemon is a rich family saga set in India between 1896 and mid 20th century. It is a story of a preadolescent girl who enters into an arranged marriage only to be widowed with two children in her teens. According to the standards of her Brahmin caste, she is condemned to a severely restricted life. The book follows her and subsequent generations of her family. She and the other characters are interesting and well defined, the culture fascinating, and the evolution of the caste system interesting.

For the most part the book was highly engaging, but too much of the time it would drift off and become tedious. While making reference to historical events such as India's independence from Britain, partition and two world wars, they were of little if any significance. There was enough of interest to keep me reading. I feel the book had the potential to be exceptional had it been edited more carefully. As is,I would rate the book at 3 1/2.