Review #502: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


"The American dream means that you have the chance to work hard, get an education and do great things for yourself, for your kids. The great thing in American is it doesn't matter what your last name is, doesn't matter if you're wealthy."

----Bobby Jindal

Imbolo Mbue, a Cameroonian author, pens an incredibly inspiring debut novel, Behold the Dreamers that unfolds the stories of two families set against the backdrop of the Big Apple, one is a very poor yet hardworking immigrant family from a very small town in Africa and another is an American family who are filthy rich, as the two families come together with their growing fondness for one another, and so the inevitable curse of the Great Recession that tears each and every one from both the families apart.

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Review #129: The Recession Groom by Vani Kaushal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The bottom line is that we never fall for the person we're supposed to.”

----Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

Vani, an Indian author, took a spin on Indian marriage, recession and love with her debut book, The Recession Groom .

Synopsis:
Parshuraman Joshi, 27, handsome, Hindu-Brahmin, IT Professional, settled in Canada, earns a high-figure salary.
These are credentials that would make any young man hot on the Indian wedding market, so it's no wonder that Parshuraman's family is inundated with matrimonial proposals. While so far all attempts to 'settle' him have gone kaput, he has bigger issues vexing him - such as Jennifer, his 'fireball' of a colleague, and their efforts to save Project Infinite. To top it all, as the credit crisis grips the global economy, the little world he's created for himself begins to fall apart. Will he be able to pull himself together to face the challenges posed by a tough economy? More importantly, will this Recession Groom be able to find his 'perfect partner'?

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