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.

The Infinite Air by Fiona Kidman

Why I have it: Because Scott gave it a plug on Twitter.

Summary: Story of one of the world’s greatest aviators, Jean Batten. An international icon in the 1930s, she suddenly slipped out of the spotlight, dying in obscurity in Majorca (and was buried in a pauper’s grave).

I’m thinking: No. Although Batten is intriguing, the writing style is too descriptive for my liking.

This is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison

Why I have it: I kept passing this one by when it was first released and now, two months later, I’m reading shining reviews. What have I missed?

Summary: Widower Harriet Chance sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise only to discover through a series of revelations that she’s been living the past 60 years under entirely false pretenses. There, amid the buffets and lounge singers, Harriet takes stock of her life.

I’m thinking: Yes because it has lines like this – “But your hygiene is fastidious, your bouffant is formidable.”

Sweet Caress by William Boyd

Why I have it: I skipped over it on Netgalley thinking it was “women’s fiction” (I loathe that term…). Then I read some reviews – wish I’d nabbed an ARC while I had the chance.

Summary: Meet Amory Clay – traveler, photographer, risk taker – born in the decade before the Great War, her disappointed father gave her an androgynous name and announced the birth of a son. What becomes of Amory?

I’m thinking: Yes (but hoping the overly familiar first-person point-of-view doesn’t become irritating). Also, I love the back story.