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.

Long Island by Colm Tóibín

Why I have it: Because of Lisa’s review (and have enjoyed Tóibín’s books in the past).

Summary: Sequel to Brooklyn, Tóibín asks whether it is possible to truly return to the past and renew the great love that seemed gone forever.

I’m thinking: Yes.

Trophy Lives by Philippa Snow

Why I have it: Not sure.

Summary: Discourse on the celebrity as an ‘art object’. An example to whet the appetite –

…art collector Peter Brant commissioned the wickedly satirical Italian American artist Maurizio Cattelan to make a sculpture of his wife, the supermodel Stephanie Seymour. The work was technically called Stephanie, but became known in the industry as ‘Trophy Wife’. With the sculpture valued at 1.5 million dollars, while Seymour herself is purportedly worth one hundred million dollars, you might be tempted to wonder which has the claim to be the ‘better’ work of art.

I’m thinking: Yes.

The Way We Are by Hugh MacKay

Why I have it: Saw the author’s thoughts on loneliness and the need for social connection quoted (somewhere!).

Summary: Examines the epidemics of loneliness, anxiety and depression, and the impacts of entrenched poverty and ubiquitous technology, within the context of trends that are shaking (or shaping) the Australian way of life.

I’m thinking: Maybe.

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