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.
Make it Scream, Make it Burn by Leslie Jamison
Why I have it: Because I loved The Empathy Exams.
Summary: A collection of essays about obsession and longing. Jamison’s subjects include 52 Blue, deemed ‘the loneliest whale in the world’; the eerie specter of reincarnated children; devotees of an online existence called Second Life; and a museum dedicated to relationship breakups.
I’m thinking: Yes. The sample is an essay I’d read before but damn she’s good.
The Friendship Cure by Kate Leaver
Why I have it: It was referred to in Julia Baird’s Phosphorescence.
Summary: Friendship – what it is, how to keep it, and why we need it more than ever before.
I’m thinking: Yes – there’s a pleasing narrative quality to this bit of non-fiction.
Swim by Lynn Sherr
Why I have it: I think it was recommended when I mentioned I like books about swimming…
Summary: A celebration of swimming and the effect it has on our lives, from considering why we swim, and the biology of swimming, to how the activity has changed through history.
I’m thinking: Yes… my weakness for swimming stories strikes again (and I’m vulnerable right now, having gone the longest stretch in my whole life without swimming). The author’s early mention of her international swimming experiences won me.
I’m not a big reader of NF but these all sound appealing – especially the last two, my friendships are really important to me and I love being in water. Hopefully we’ll both be swimming again soon!
The Friendship Cure sounds the most appealing
Make it Scream, Make it Burn sounds fantastic. I’ve been wanting to read something by Leslie Jamison for far too long. Hope it’s a huge hit for you.
A big yes for Make it Scream Make it Burn – sounds amazing!