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 the books are from authors I’ve read (and enjoyed) previously –
The Standing Chandelier by Lionel Shriver
Summary: Weston receives an extravagant engagement present from his best friend (and old flame) Jillian – he doesn’t know how to get it past his fiancée. There’s an argument.
I’m thinking: Well I liked it but as it’s included in her new collection, Property, I’ll go for that.
How Hard Can It Be by Allison Pearson
Summary: Sequel to I Don’t Know How She Does It. It’s seven years later and Kate Reddy is facing her 50th birthday, and dealing with teenagers and a husband who has retrained as a counsellor.
I’m thinking: Yes. I know it will be predictable but it will also make for light holiday reading.
Wallflowers by Eliza Robertson
Summary: Short story collection that opens with a girl who is cat-sitting for her neighbour (and who eats lots of boiled eggs and watches a lot of TV).
I’m thinking: Maybe – the writing is not as sharp as it is in Demi-Gods.
I may have to start a clean out like this onof my samples!
It’s a good way to sort through them and also make sure they don’t mount up. I keep a list of the ones I say ‘yes’ to and at the end of the year I go through the ‘yes’ books and choose 10-15 to buy (and think that if I’d impulse bought all those books rather than samples I’d never make inroads into the TBR stack).
That’s a really useful system. I might really try something like that this year too. Thanks for the idea!
*one for 😄
I’ve not read anything by these authors – I really need to get over my fear of We Need to Talk About Kevin, it’s been gathering dust in the TBR for years…
It’s almost politically incorrect to say you like Shriver these days (ever since the talk she did wearing a sombrero) but she is very, very clever. I read Kevin when it was released (10 years ago at least) – I still think about it regularly. Very powerful book.
I enjoyed Wallflowers, and totally hadn’t twigged that Demi-Gods was by the same person! I’ll have to look out for it.
I gave up on Shriver after the terrible The Mandibles.