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.
How to be Somebody Else by Miranda Pountney
Why I have it: Not sure.
Summary: New York, 2015. Dylan, 38yo, walks out of a successful career in advertising, sublets her apartment and agrees to housesit for Anna, an artist she has never met. She doesn’t mention these life changes to her friends, her parents back in England or to Matt, her West Coast boyfriend. In Anna’s loft Dylan has time to think, space to write and a chance to try on a new kind of life.
I’m thinking: Maybe.
The Names by Florence Knapp
Why I have it: It’s been on everyone’s lists this year.
Summary: In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off to register the birth of her son. Her husband, Gordon, respected in the community but a controlling presence at home, intends for her to follow a long-standing family tradition and name the baby after him. But when faced with the decision, Cora hesitates…. What follows are three alternate and alternating versions of their lives, shaped by Cora’s last-minute choice of name.
I’m thinking: Yes.
Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton
Why I have it: I love Shapton’s take on things.
Summary: A love story told in the form of an auction catalog. The 325 lots up for auction are what remain from the relationship between Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris (who aren’t real people, but might as well be). Through photographs of the couple’s personal effects, the usual auction items (jewelry, fine art, and rare furniture) and the seemingly worthless (pajamas, Post-it notes, worn paperbacks), the story of a failed love affair emerges.
I’m thinking: Wah! The sample was only the title page…
I found The Names to be very disturbing due to the awful domestic violence. I only read the first section. At 65 I seem not to be able to tolerate violence again women in books anymore.
I’m thinking Wah! too about the Important Artefacts. I come here for recommendations like these. I am reading Calendar by Vanessa Berry where she presents a year through 365 objects collecting the everyday, familiar, curious and unusual. Australian writer. It is enchanting. Not disturbing in any way.
A New York setting is always seductive. I’m currently wandering around it with the main protagonist in Brandon Taylor’s new novel, Minor Black Figures, due out next year.
OMG… The Names is one of my favorite books of the year. I’m glad you’re going to keep this one to read, and I hope you read it soon!
The Shapton sounds promising – what a shame you only got the title page!
The Shapton was one of the first books I reviewed on 746books! I enjoyed it but found it occasionally ‘tricksy’. I read The Names over the summer and enjoyed it,.
Had to return The Names to the library before I could finish it! So frustrating.
The Pountney was on our McKitterick Prize longlist last year — I would recommend it.
I’ve read some others by Shapton. I’m intrigued by that title and premise!