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.
A Really Good Day by Ayelet Waldman
Why I have it: Christine mentioned it.
Summary: Waldman takes microdoses of LSD in an effort to treat a debilitating mood disorder; understand a misunderstood drug; and have a ‘really good day’.
I’m thinking: Yes – fascinating.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Why I have it: Because it won the 2017 Baileys Prize.
Summary: Teenage girls have all the power and the world changes completely.
I’m thinking: Maybe. Not my preferred genre but interesting structure. And it’s a prize winner.
Invincible Summer by Alice Adams
Why I have it: Spotted on Susan’s June paperbacks round-up.
Summary: Four university friends, twenty years on.
I’m thinking: Yes – hard to go by a story about university friends.
Thanks for the link, Kate. I’ve since read Invincible Summer and loved it – a nicely turned out piece of escapism, much needed here at the moment. David Nicholls but with more bite, I’d say. I like the sound of the Waldman. On the list it goes.
It might change your mind about The Power if I say that it’s actually not teenage girls; it’s all women (the electrostatic power that gives the book its title starts to manifest first in teenagers, but older women quickly acquire it too.) One of the most interesting characters in the book is Margo, a middle-aged US politician, whose career is completely transformed by the advent of the power, and I think Alderman’s flipping of gender norms is especially powerful in her storyline.
I feel the same about Alderman – not my usual thing but the Bailey’s win makes it appealing. And I’ve liked her previous novels, so I think it will carry me along.
Imnot going to be the best judge here since none of them really sing to me sorry
I ended up liking A Really Good Day, although I could have done without the educational part and preferred more juicy details about her life (although she does give plenty of those!).