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.
All three samples this week came from Sarah’s list of short books that are great conversation starters for book groups. I agreed with many of Sarah’s picks (the Phillips, Koch and Wood) and have a couple of others already in the TBR stack, so I thought I’d check out her other suggestions.
The Mother by Yvvette Edwards
Summary: Marcia Williams’ sixteen-year-old son, Ryan, was brutally murdered. She goes to court for the trial of the accused killer – another teenage boy.
I’m thinking: Maybe – the style is perhaps a little too journalistic-meets-true-crime for my liking (but I could be swayed).
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Summary: At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Suddenly he goes from doctor to patient. This is his memoir.
I’m thinking: Maybe – the sample was the foreword and therefore not Kalanithi’s writing (I suspect this book will be on lots of ‘best of 2016’ lists and might be nudged into my ‘yes’ pile).
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
Summary: Joan is married to Joseph Castleman, one of America’s preeminent novelists. Joan, who has spent forty years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of her husband’s career, has finally decided to stop.
I’m thinking: Yes – I was hooked from the beginning.