Kathryn's Inbox

Best Book Overall Weightless by Sarah Bannan Don't underestimate this tale of bullying and peer pressure in the early twenty-first century ... where some of the weapons are new and where the consequences can be cruel and complex. Honourable Mentions Best Biography Bad Behaviour by Rebecca Starford Best Australian (Contemporary) Season of Shadow and Light by Jenn J McLeod Best Australian (Literary/Memoir) Island Home by Tim Winton Best Romance Stone Castles by Trish Morey Best YA Fall by Sean Williams Best Dystopian The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood Best Historical The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffmann Best Thriller All That's Left Unsaid by Rowena Holloway

For the third year in a row, I will be participating in the Eclectic Reader Challenge . Hosted by Book'd Out, the challenge aims to encourage readers to step out of their comfort zones and try new books and genres. This year, the twelve categories are: A book about books  (fiction or nonfiction)   Serial killer thriller   Paranormal romance  A novel set on an island Investigative journalism   (non fiction) Disaster fiction Steampunk sci fi Any book shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize Psychology  (non fiction) Immigrant Experience fiction YA historical fiction A debut author in 2016

I grew up on the world's largest island  begins this beautifully written landscape memoir by one of Australia's most beloved authors. In Island Home Winton masterfully details the West Australian landscape, adding in his personal memories and his occasional (and entirely appropriate for the subject matter) political view.  This one is very easy reading, pick it up and let the details of the Australian landscape take you away. What really struck me--and is something that I have never thought about--is just how diverse the landscape in Australia actually is. The Western Australian landscape that is so beloved and written about so beautifully, is so different from what I experience here in South Australia, and travelling east or north provides new sights and experiences again. It is also a novel of enormous change--Winton grew up in the 1970s and has seen many changes to the landscape and many of them are not for the better--and a wake up call to preserve the unique beaut...

In early December, Hurtle Square copped a yarn bombing courtesy of the City South Association, Catherine House and the Adelaide City Council. I think the results look pretty good.

In 2016 I plan to take part in the Aussie Author Challenge for the second year in a row. For those of you who are not familiar with the challenge, it is hosted over at Booklover Book Reviews , is now in its seventh year and encourages participants to read books by a wide range of Australian authors. There are three levels of participation--Wallaby, Wallaroo and Kangaroo. This year, I am aiming for Kangaroo, which is the top level.

NOWHERESVILLE, AUSTRALIA--Self confessed Batman "superfan" Davinda Smith, age 8, has been outraged by recent rumours that have been circulating among the children in his neighbourhood that his favourite superhero has a problem with his body odour and personal hygiene. "People have been really mean about it," Davinda told our reporter. "Poor Batman. He's just out there, doing his job and trying to defend the world against evil, and all people can do is laugh at him and make up silly songs saying that he smells. It's not fair, and I want to put a stop to it." Davinda was further annoyed that his favourite Christmas carol, "Jingle Bells" had been ruined in the process. "Now every time I'm at the shops and I hear Jingle Bells, some other kid has to ruin it by singing the Batman version," he sighs. "I just want things to go back to the way they were last Christmas, when I was still only seven. Back then, in the good o...

Merry Christmas to all of my friends and followers. May the holidays and 2016 be great. May you all smile, laugh and be merry. May you all learn not to take life too seriously. ~ Kathryn.

Prolific American author Andrew Neiderman (best know for his novel The Devil's Advocate and for his work as the ghostwriter for V.C. Andrews, following Andrews) makes a welcome return to romantic suspense with Lost in His Eyes, a novel about an upper middle class woman who finds herself caught up in an illicit affair with a handsome stranger. But a sinister twist lurks between the pages in this book--and when I found it, I wondered how I never saw it coming.  Clea Howard is the bored, upper middle class wife of the somewhat dull Ronnie and a bratty teenager named Kelly. Life is dreary, until she finds part time work, and encounters a mysterious but handsome man at the supermarket. Soon Clea and Lancaster are arranging secret meetings and Clea finds herself in the midst of a fantasy like illicit affair. But not all things are like they seem. This was an enjoyable and surprising read with a clever twist at the end. Parts of it felt a little like a soap opera and perhaps...

It is no secret that Garfield from the beloved Garfield comic strip counts his birthday as June 19 1978, and that every year the comic strip has a special birthday celebration. In recent years, the celebration has become an even bigger event, spilling over to social media and when Garfield turned 25 there was even a special Garfield themed cruise. But one questions remains? If Garfield's birthday is June 19, making him thirty-seven years old this year, then how old is his hapless owner, Jon? Well, here is your answer. Source: Go Comics In a comic strip that debuted on December 23 1980 Jon declares that he is twenty-nine years old, and that he would be thirty, but he was sick a year. (His illness was never specified, though it is completely within the realms of possibility that Jon spent time in a mental asylum.) If Jon has indeed aged in real time, this would put his possible birth date at December 23 1950, making him sixty-five years old today, or sixty-four if o...

An Outback Christmas is a surprising romance about an unlikely pair who end up spending Christmas together. Carrie Holt lives in isolation and has absolutely no plans to celebrate Christmas--this year or any other. But her plans change when two strangers, Adam Davidson and his young son Tyler, find themselves stranded on her property and in need of help. As Adam and Carrie grow closer, the truth about her tragic past comes to light ... and Adam and Tyler may just be people she needs to help her heal. I enjoyed reading this short and light novella, which provided the perfect (romantic) distraction during a busy time of year. Adam and Tyler were very easy to identify with and Carrie's problems--and the reason she had closed off her heart--were quite sad though understandable.  A charming Christmas tale. Recommended. Thank you to Destiny Romance and Netgalley for my reading copy. 

Hurrah! It's Christmas time in Adelaide once again and the streets are decorated for the season. This year, I got my first decent snap of the big Christmas Tree in Victoria Square (after five years of trying,) which has quietly become a city icon. Rundle Mall went for a colourful theme with its decorations this year, while Father Christmas found a new home--keeping watch and giving all a wave at the Grote Street entrance to the Central Market.

What We Left Behind is a beautiful, coming of age novel that featuring two young people who are searching for a sense of self. It is also a love story. It is also mass market fiction published by Harlequin Teen which makes the next bit even more surprising--the young couple at the heart and soul of this story are Gretchen, an openly gay teenage girl who is comfortable with her sexuality and Toni who identifies as genderqueer. Throughout the past two years of high school, Toni and Gretchen have been the 'it' couple at their school and their relationship is fairly smooth. But when they start college--Gretchen at New York University and Toni at Harvard, the distance and their differing experiences begin to tear them apart. For Gretchen its the chance to make new friends (including the repulsive Carroll and gothic Samantha who proves herself to be quite sweet despite appearances,) while Toni is befriended by some transgender upperclassmen and begins to ask some big questions a...

Before I Go to Sleep is a very cleverly plotted thriller with an interesting premise. Christine is a middle-aged woman who, when she wakes each morning, cannot remember the past twenty years. Her only link with a normal life is her patient and long-suffering husband Ben, and the journals that she makes about her days. But the journal comes with a chilling note--that Christine should not trust Ben. Who is her husband, really? Why should Christine not trust him? How did she lose her memory in the first place and does she ever have a hope of getting it back? Over the course of a day, Christine reads through her journal entries and discovers just how dangerous her situation may be ... I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this one and guessing at some of the twists and turns. My instincts about Ben were spot on and most of the suspense came from wondering if and how Christine would be able to escape the situation. The story is well written and the author cleverly drip feed...

November 9 , Colleen Hoover's latest New Adult romance is about Ben, an aspiring writer, and Fallon, a former teen actor who is trying in earnest to resurrect her career after she was badly injured in an accident. The pair meet one day, on November 9, the day before Fallon moves from LA to New York and end up spending a romantic day together. Over the next five years their lives each take many separate twists and turns, though they continue to always meet on November 9 every year. And then one day, Fallon discovers that Ben has been keeping a terrible secret from her which changes their relationship forever ... By now, readers should not what to expect--and what not to expect--from a Colleen Hoover novel, and she gives just enough to satisfy readers. There is plenty of heat--though just enough to titillate rather than shock readers, tragic pasts and misunderstandings, and of course, readers get to see both sides of the story through the lives of Fallon and Ben. It's a ...

Set against the luscious backdrop of Italy, All That's Left Unsaid is a rich and detailed account of a young Australian woman who finds love and some surprising truths when she travels abroad to solve a mystery on behalf of her ailing mother. Harriet 'Harrie' Taylor is not in the happiest of circumstances--she's lost her job, and her lover, and now her mother, whom she has never gotten along with wants her to travel to a small Italian town to discover if some recently discovered remains are those of a friend from many, many years ago, who her mother has never once mentioned. But things--and people--are not always as they seem in this small town, but getting to the truth might just be the thing that helps heal the rift between Harrie and her mother.  All That's Left Unsaid is a thoughtfully written mystery with a cast of intriguing characters and secrets. This is a book with a lot of depth and demands slow and careful reading--which is perfect for readers l...

NOWHERESVILLE, AUSTRALIA--The residents of Nowheresville have been left forever in debt to nineteen year old Milton McLean after a comment that he left on the popular social media site facebook earlier this week. 'I can't believe that we were all so ignorant and stupid,' Veronika Singh, the Mayor of Nowheresville told our reporter. 'This single comment, from the brave and brilliant keyboard warrior, Mr Milton McLean, has changed our way of life forever.' The incident occurred a week ago, when the local radio station Nowhere FM shared a meme on their facebook page asking their listeners whether or not they preferred to say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." While followers were quick to chime in with their preferences, it was left up to Milton to bravely point out that Christmas celebrations were adapted by Christians from pagan rituals. "I don't think any of us knew that," Mayor Singh said. "It had certainly never occur...

The Girl in 6E is the kind of book that would ordinarily cause me to roll my eyes and move on, given the fact that this is yet another previously self-published book that became a global best seller, featuring explicit sexual content and violence, that is supposedly written by a married, upper middle-class and extremely attractive MILF. Yawn.  Anyway, long story short, I found a copy on a remainder table at one of those sale book shops that seem to disappear just as soon as they spring up, bought a copy just for a giggle and then found myself feeling like a bit of an idiot when it actually turned out to be a half-decent book. Yes, it's explicit and it revolves around a young, female protagonist who earns a crust by performing sex acts in front of a webcam and yes, she does have extreme homicidal tendencies, but, on the whole, the story is engaging enough. (The writing is so-so, but I wasn't exactly expecting Shakespeare. It does what it sets out to do.) Deanna is certa...

Shirley Jackson's The Lottery , a story set in a small town (population 300) just prior to the harvest, remains just as haunting to me now, as what it did when I first read the story as a teenager. The suspense builds as the members of the town gather for the annual ritual, with some details being slowly, and carefully, revealed to the readers, as the lottery is drawn, with the protesting Tessie Hutchinson eventually being declared the winner. Or loser, perhaps, given her eventual fate of being stoned to death, with the other townsfolk uncaring to her cries of this being unfair. The story speaks volumes about conformity and the dangers of blindly following superstitions and rituals simply because they are tradition. The story is cruel but an important one. Recommended.

I may have featured this picture before, but I just love this colourful fountain that can be found in the centre of Moseley Square at Glenelg (or The Bay if you're a local). On a warm summer evening it is not unusual to see small children running in and around the jets of water. For the rest of us, the fountain makes a lovely centrepiece. 

One of the greatest moments from the BBC television series The Goodies is this scene from their Christmas episode, Earthanasia, where Tim is confronted with the reality that the Muppets are not real, and reacts somewhat violently. The scene shows just how surprisingly talented and diverse comedian Graeme Garden actually was--Tim Brooke Taylor, meanwhile, plays the part of a sooky, Mummy's boy to perfection. I've taken this clip from YouTube, where it was uploaded by a diehard fan of The Goodies .

Easily the funniest and best Shopaholic novel in years, Shopaholic to the Rescue gets off to an above average start as Becky and her gang of misfits (and Luke, of course) make their way to Las Vegas to rescue Becky's dad and Tarquin and ends in an absolutely fitting--and funny--tribute to Ocean's Eleven . Becky and Suze find their friendship put to the test and there is a bit of a strange mystery about Becky's name--why are the daughters of all of her Dad's American friends named Becky? Shopaholic to the Rescue is a brilliant and entertaining light read that proved itself to be a perfect pick me up on an otherwise dull day. Like all of Kinsella's books, it is not something that requires much analysis, after all this is written by one of the authors who helped to define the British comic chick lit genre back when it was in its infancy. It is also worth mentioning that Kinsella is still around now, fifteen (almost sixteen) years after the first Shopaholic bo...

Welcome to another brilliant Writers on Wednesday post. This week I'm chatting with Justin Sheedy a great Australian author whose fourth novel Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer is well, dancing up a storm, both in Australia and abroad ... Tell us about your most recently published book? My 4th and latest book, “Memoirs of a Go-Go Dancer”, published for Christmas last year. It’s my make-you-laugh-and-cry portrait of being a teenager in 1980s Sydney when, if teenage wasn’t dramatic enough, I was faced with the prospect of nuclear annihilation before I ever kissed a girl. Far from being merely my own ‘memoir’, it’s a portrait of the era featuring the issues and events great and small that made the decade: The hot end of the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, AIDS, Bob Hawke’s iconic “Americas Cup” moment, the music good & cringe-worthy, the horror of “Perfect Match” and 80s crimes of fashion. A French reader recently called it A TIMELESS BOOK FOR ALL AGES AND A...

Australia's infamous Ern Malley literary hoax is the inspiration behind My Life As a Fake Peter Carey's novel from 2003 which tells the story of Bob McCorkle--who comes into being as entirely imagined entity, and lives out the rest of his days as a figure not unlike Frankenstin's monster, a gentle giant who has far more scruples than his weak and somewhat pathetic creator. And the whole thing is bloody brilliant. The story begins in 1972 with Sarah Wade-Douglas, a London based editor of a poetry journal who is promised with the ultimate scoop, the chance to travel to Kuala Lumpur to meet Christopher Chubb, a failed Australian poet and disgraced literary hoaxer. As Sarah meets with Chubb, she discovers just how terrible this man is haunted by his past--and quite literally--by Bob McCorkle, the fake poet that he made up in the 1940s in a bid to make an old friend and editor that had rejected his work appear foolish. (Ern Malley being, of course, the creation of two c...

Fans of my novel Cats, Scarves and Liars will already be familiar with this beautiful work of art that decorates the four corners of Hurtle Square, on the intersection of Halifax and Pultney Streets, which spells out The Forest of Dreams .

Okay, hands up! Who remembers that classic Bond film that opens with our beloved employee of Her Majesty's Secret Service singlehandedly shooting half a dozen powerful Russian spies before returning to headquarters where he encounters the plainish yet intelligent Moneypenny who is, of course, completely smitten with Bond, despite the fact that she's not really his type and their relationship is strictly professional. Of course, Moneypenny swoons when she sees Bond who--wait for it--stares at her, laughs and makes some vomiting noises before shouting, "Spew, Moneypenny wants me!" and running out of the room in complete and utter terror. Of course, you have not seen that Bond film. Because such a thing would never happen. Bond is the ultimate fantasy of an alpha male. He's tough, smart and--perhaps this is the most important bit--Bond has class. Bond is also not real, which may explain why some men have difficulty following his example. It never ceases...

In fiction, the course of true love never runs smoothly, not even when the heroine and her hero are on their honeymoon. In This Girl , the third and final book in the Slammed series,   Will and Layken's honeymoon is spent talking, kissing and occasionally bickering, while Will tells Layken his side of the story about how they first met and those excruciating, heart wrenching few months when circumstance forced them to be apart. There are a few surprise confessions, but overall this one is everything that it promises to be--a retelling of Slammed from Will's perspective. I enjoyed reading this one, though I suspect that I probably would have enjoyed it more had I waited for a while and not read it so soon after I had read Slammed and Point of Retreat-- I think that I have definitely had my fill now of the characters and their story! Still, Hoover is very clever, and very much an artist, I think, in the way that she incorporates performance poetry into her writing. The...

Welcome friends, readers, followers and guests to another great Writers on Wednesday post. This week I am chatting with Australian author Maggie Christensen ... Tell me a bit about yourself … I began teaching primary school in Scotland and emigrated to Australia in my mid-twenties lured by ads of a semi-naked man in gown and mortarboard and the slogan ‘Come teach in the Sun’ I’m still looking for that guy! When I drew close to retirement from a career in education, I started to write the sort of books I enjoy reading – books which feature mature women facing life-changing events with a dollop of romance included and the inevitable HEA. I’m often asked why a Scot living on the Sunshine Coast set a series of books on the Oregon Coast in the USA. I’ve already written two novels in my Oregon Coast Series – The Sand Dollar and The Dreamcatcher . It all began over 30 years ago when I was working in Higher Education and took a forced transfer to teach in a count...

I am going to be brave and admit that, initially, when I read the first few sections of this book it did not really appeal to me. Because of the era that this book is set in--1999--it initially came across as very dated. Also, to me, Rainbow Rowell's books have been a bit hit and miss, I loved Fangirl , but I had difficulty relating to Landline and opted not to review the book on this blog after I finished it. I was worried that Attachments was going to follow the same path, but I was soon pleasantly surprised by how I soon got caught up in the story of Lincoln, a shy IT professional who works at a newspaper monitoring emails and the way that he admires Beth, a movie critic, who he has never spoken to, and who has her own relationship troubles with the irresponsible and (perhaps) unintentionally self-centred Chris. Attachments proved itself to be a solid and surprising romance that centred around some fairly shy and introverted characters, whose problems proved easy to...

Some more bright and colourful seats (and a colourful pavement) on Pirie Street

One of the most surprising--and successful--literary phenomenons to emerge from the twentieth century is, without a doubt V.C. Andrews. A wheelchair bound and softy spoken artist who lived with her mother, who had a penchant for writing shocking yet sympathetic novels that featured taboo subjects, V.C. Andrews found a second career as a best-selling author during what was to be the final--and perhaps happiest--decade of her life. But what followed her death was equally surprising--her books had become so popular, and so loved by readers--that they continue to be written and released twenty-nine years after her death with the assistance of a ghostwriter. Ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman (a successful author of horror and romantic suspense in his own right,) has written anywhere between 69 and 74 of the novels released following the death of V.C. Andrews (the true author of Garden of Shadows and the final three books in the Casteel series, remains hotly debated by fans.) Many of the...

Don't look down.

Murder on the Ballarat Train opens with exactly what the title promises and we find the lovely Miss Fisher heroically coming to the rescue when the occupants first class carriage of the train that she and Dot are travelling on are poisoned with chloroform. The reasons that the occupants of the train would be poisoned are not clear at first and neither is why there is no one willing to claim a young girl who was travelling on the train. But in true style, Miss Phryne Fisher gets to the bottom of the mystery, uncovering a sordid secret along the way. Miss Fisher books are pure fun and there is never any need to analyse them too much. That said, I rather enjoyed this one and it was nice, now that I am up to the third book, to revisit characters who are starting to feel like old friends. Highly recommended.

Welcome back to Writers on Wednesday. This week I am putting my questions to Keith Austin, author of Grymm, Snow, White, and Jago ... Tell us a bit about yourself … Well, I’m from East London originally (so a Cockney born and bred) but I’ve lived and travelled all over the world. I’ve been living in Australia for the past 20 years. I have been a journalist for 37 years and have wanted to be a published author since I was about 11. Tell us about your most recently published book? JAGO is the horror story of two street urchins – Demelza Cotton and Jago Quinn - in 19 th century London who find an iridescent, rainbow-coloured lizard and what happens to them when certain rogue elements want to take it off them. Those rogue elements include the underworld crime figures the Cray twins and the mysterious Adamina Wollondilly and her army of Eyeballers. Then it turns out the lizard isn’t exactly what it seems. Tell us about the first time you were published? I ...