Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.
Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett
Why I have it: When I was very little my dad showed me photos he’d taken at a whaling station in Western Australia. The exposed blubber and men in waders, hosing blood and guts into the ocean are burned on my brain to this day.
Summary: A turn of the century whaling story (where the Killer Whales act like sheep dogs).
I’m thinking: Yes – the language is quaint and I think I’ll love main character, Mary.
Early One Morning by Virginia Bailey
Why I have it: Saw it in my favourite book shop but had already bought two books… Such restraint.
Summary: Chiara Ravello is about to flee occupied Rome when she locks eyes with a woman being herded on to a truck with her family. Claiming the woman’s son, Daniele, as her own nephew, Chiara demands his return; only as the trucks depart does she realize what she has done.
I’m thinking: No. Too descriptive (in a ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ kind of way).
Whispers Through a Megaphone by Rachel Elliot
Why I have it: Because I missed out on an ARC…
Summary: 35-year-old Miriam hasn’t left her house in three years, and cannot raise her voice above a whisper but that all ends with this story.
I’m thinking: Yes (first page or two I thought no, and then I got to the lists. I love stories told with lists).
The third one gets my vote. I’m with you on the lists 🙂
My colleague has just added Early One Morning to her favourites selection at work…but she is about to head off for a month long holiday in Italy, so her current preferences may be suspect !! (All five Ferrante books are also in her selection 🙂