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.

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

Why I have it: Not sure.

Summary: Jean Swinney, 39-years-old, writes for a local paper and lives a limited existence with her truculent mother. When a young Swiss woman contacts the paper to claim that her daughter is the result of a virgin birth, it is down to Jean to discover whether she is a miracle or a fraud. But the more Jean investigates, the more her life becomes strangely (and not unpleasantly) intertwined with that of the woman.

I’m thinking: Yes.

This is How You Remember It by Catherine Prasifka

Why I have it: enjoyed her previous book, None of This is Serious.

Summary: You’re nine when you get your first computer. Your favourite thing is a virtual pet website; you spend hours in the chatroom…  It’s not long before you discover porn. You don’t know what you’re watching, but you do know that you shouldn’t tell anybody… Later, older, your first kiss is captured on camera and shared with everyone in your year. It feels like betrayal, but soon it feels normal… Now, you can’t remember a time when you didn’t feel hollow inside. Now, you know that something has to change.

I’m thinking: Yes.

The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya

Why I have it: Been on my TBR list since 2024.

Summary: Sophia, a young playwright, awaits her father’s verdict on her new show. He’s a famous author whose novels haven’t aged gracefully, and he is completely unaware that the play centers around a vacation they took years earlier, where he dictated to her a new book. The play has been met with rave reviews but Sophia’s father has studiously avoided reading any of them. But when the house lights dim, he understands that his daughter has used the events of their summer to create a skewering critique of the attitudes and sexual mores of men of his generation.

I’m thinking: Yes.