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.
This week, all three books are by authors I’ll be seeing at the Melbourne Writers Festival later this month.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Summary: Woman finds an ancient book and a cache of letters addressed ominously to ‘My dear and unfortunate successor’. Discoveries abound…
I’m thinking: No, it just doesn’t grab me.
Anaesthesia: The Gift of Oblivion and the Mystery of Consciousness by Kate Cole-Adams
Summary: Stuff about what happens when we “go under”.
I’m thinking: Yes, always fascinated by these kind of pop-medical books.
Woman of Substances: A Journey into Addiction and Treatment by Jenny Valentish
Summary: Valentish investigates the female experience of drugs and alcohol, using her own story to light the way.
I’m thinking: Yes.
“…addiction arises from a melting pot of factors spanning both nature and nurture. … It’s a biopsychosocial soup…”
Two of these sound a bit sombre…
I know I’ll reach my limit with ‘misery memoirs’ at some stage but I’m not quite there yet! The thing that I do find interesting about addiction stories is that they are all slightly different, which is of course why the problem is so complex.
The anaesthesia one sounds fascinating – I’ve never been under & find the prospect horrible, but I appreciate it’s necessary!
I *quite* enjoyed The Historian but recently gave up her new one. Anaesthesia sounds a much better bet.
I read The Historian way back in 2005 and really loved it. It’s a Dracula tale but done in a less obvious way.
I would say yes to the Kate Cole-Adams. Coukd be fascinating