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, I discovered two titles after reading this article about cold water swimming and depression, and the book by Lee was chosen because I’ve followed her on Twitter for years.

I Found My Tribe by Ruth Fitzmaurice

Summary: Ruth’s tribe are her lively children and her husband, Simon, who has motor-neurone disease. Ruth’s other ‘tribe’, the Tragic Wives’ Swimming Club, are the friends who gather at the cove in Greystones, Co. Wicklow to swim in the freezing cold water – it’s their coping strategy.

I’m thinking: Yes – it’s about much more than swimming.

Waterlog by Roger Deakin

Summary: In 1996, Deakin set out to swim through the British Isles. From the sea, from rock pools, from rivers and streams, tarns, lakes, lochs, ponds, lidos, swimming pools and spas, from fens, dykes, moats, aqueducts, waterfalls, flooded quarries, even canals, Deakin swims Britain.

I’m thinking: Yes – I love a mad swimming project.

Turning: Lessons from Swimming Berlin’s Lakes by Jessica Lee

Summary: At age 28, Jessica Lee, finds herself alone and broken-hearted in Berlin. She decides that to win back her confidence and independence, she should swim fifty-two of the lakes around Berlin, no matter what the weather. She is aware that this particular landscape is not without its own ghosts and history.

I’m thinking: Yes – Lee writes beautifully about water (and Berlin).