Sunday, August 9, 2009

August 8, 2009



Shanghai Girls - Lisa See 2009
Pearl and sister May are sold to be the wives of two American brothers, Sam and Vern. They endure the Japanese invasion of Shanghai and, once in America, World War II and the Communist scare. Pearl passes May's illegitimate daughter Joy off as the offspring of her wedding night with Sam.
The Makedown - Gitty Daneshvari 2009
Anna Norton grows up fat, acned and ugly. After moving to New York, she slims down, seeks help for her acne and becomes, well...average. She meets and falls in love with Ben, perfect in every physical way but a bit shallow. Ben is pressured by his mom to go out with her (the "good" girl of her dreams) and he ends up falling for her. She becomes obssessed with all the girls she sees flirting with him, prettier girls to boot. She decides to make him less attractive, more fitting with the image she has of herself. She fattens him up, dresses him unfashionably, puts Nair in his shampoo and then is devasted when he loses his self confidence and becomes a schlub. In the end she destroys their relationship and he dumps her. Oh well...

Why this?

This is just to keep track of what I've read. I probably won't make any comments regarding the contents of the book or whether I liked it. Maybe I will. This is just for me.