Kathryn's Inbox

Odd, irreverent and filled with black humour, Magpie is very much of product of the time and place where it was written and published. Set in Adelaide, this one is Literary fiction, pitched at a fairly limited market. To give it a bit of a broad description, it gets away with a lot of shit that authors could get away with back in the days before the internet, goodreads and book blogs like this one became a thing. (Actually, I can almost hear the authors snort with disdain at my use of the phrase 'a thing.' Or that a graduate of Christies Beach High School would actually dare to read--and discuss--Literary fiction in any kind of public forum. I'm pretty sure that all of my opinions forthwith are now redundant.) Anyway, to give this book a bit of context it is set in 1992, an era when the academic sphere in Australia was changing quite a bit. Universities were merging, becoming less exclusive and spread across a number of campuses. Consequently, many academics found them...

This beautiful artwork is a small part of a mural that fills one of the walls of the Central Market. I think it looks pretty good, don't you?

Quaq Qauo was a stop motion TV series from Italy that was made totally out of origami. During the 1980s and 1990s, it used to air in Australia on Channel 2 (now better known as the ABC,) in random slots between shows, and was not dubbed into English, meaning that anyone who did not speak Italian had no bloody idea what was going on with that crazy paper duck who seemed able to morph into anything and everything at will. Quaq Qauo was quite a star in parts of Europe, however, and did particularly well in Norway.

Not since I read Janet Turner Hospital's Oyster back in university has a novel ever left me feeling quite so depressed. And there is no doubt about it, An Isolated Incident is not an uplifting book. It also was not intended to be. This is a proudly feminist novel about sexism, violence, small town prejudice and the media circus that always follows the violent (and unnecessary) death of a young, beautiful woman. An Isolated Incident follows Chris, a street smart thirty-something, living in a small town halfway between Melbourne and Sydney, whose younger sister is abducted and murdered on her way home from work. It also follows May, a journalist from a start up digital press who is keen to get a lucrative exclusive.   And mostly it follows both women as they navigate a world where they are both secondary to a sense of male entitlement, and the impact that this particular crime has on them both. An Isolated Incident has been longlisted for the Stella Prize and it is...

Armando Lucas Correa's first novel is a well written tale that weaves between the past and present to tell the story of Hannah, a young and beautiful German girl of Jewish descent who--through no fault of her own--finds herself unwelcome in a changing Berlin. Twelve year old Hannah understands her situation in the way that only a child can, with fear, anger and, surprisingly, optimism. Along with her friend Leo, they travel the streets of Berlin, but danger and prejudice is all around them, and their parents are desperate to find a safer place to life. Soon Hannah's family find themselves as first class passengers on the SS Saint Louis, and a new adventure begins. Hannah's days exploring the ship with Leo are happy ones, but a darker reality--politics and broken promises--await as the ship nears Cuba. Hannah and her mother are among the few people permitted to alight the ship and make a new life in Cuba. Meanwhile, in 2014, eleven year old Anna, is living in New York, w...

It seems that this tree just outside Colonnades Shopping Centre has been bombed with a variety of artwork. I am not sure what it it advertising, but it certainly looks colourful.

Another classic Sesame Street clip. This one is worth watching until the end--Bert's response is completely fitting for his character. (And I, for one, think that he actually believes Ernie!)

Hello, and welcome to another brilliant Writers on Wednesday Post. This week South Australian author Sandy Vaile is stopping by as part of her Combatting Fear blog tour to chat about her new book and her busy writing career ... Tell me a bit about yourself ... Hi, I’m Sandy Vaile, and I’m a motorbike riding daredevil who isn’t content with a book unless there’s a courageous heroine and a dead body. I’m lucky enough to live amongst the McLaren Vale vineyards, where I can indulge my passion for devising horrible things to do to fictional characters, all in the name of fun, of course. In my spare time, I run a critiquing group for novelists, judge romance writing competitions, present literary craft workshops, and occasionally write articles and short stories. When I’m not writing for fun, I compose procedures for high-risk industrial processes. (Yep, a word nerd through and through.) Tell me about your most recently published book? My books are published by...

Originally published in 1993, Tony and Susan was a minor hit in the United States. Somehow, in about 2011, a secondhand hardcover copy made its way to my bookshelf (a minor miracle, considering that to the best of my knowledge it was never in print in Australia,) where it stayed ... for the next six years. Then a film titled Nocturnal Animals was released and I couldn't help but notice some similarities ... which is fitting, considering that Nocturnal Animals was based on Tony and Susan (basically, it's a more modern version of the book, with a bit more nudity thrown in, and a somewhat altered backstory for Susan.) The novel opens with Susan, a middle-aged wife and a mother of three. The year is 1990. Out of the blue she is contacted by Edward, a man to whom she was married briefly in the 1960s. The marriage ended in divorce as Susan could not understand Edward's desire to be a writer, and she eventually divorced him to be with Arnold, a heart surgeon who is, we...

This fence borders the old Le Cornu site in North Adelaide. Once the home of a large and thriving furniture showroom (I'm too young to remember it, but apparently it had a rounded glass window that looked quite spectacular,) the business moved out of the building, which was then demolished. Over the years (I understand Le Cornu left in 1986,) there have been many plans for the site, none of which have ever got off the ground--literally. (The most recent of which was a luxury hotel, which may or may not still happen.) Instead, the site has become a vacant lot in the middle of what should be prime, city real estate. (It's also considered by some to be Adelaide's greatest eyesore.) Anyway, recently, someone decided to pretty the fence. And I think it looks great. A simple message, against a grey background.

I found a copy of Counting by 7s at the Dymocks book shop in Rundle Mall, and from the moment that I picked up this supposedly middle grade novel, it started to warm my heart. (I say supposedly, because the writing style and subject matter mean that this book would undoubtably appeal to a much broader--ie adult--audience.) The novel tells the story of Willow Chance, a twelve year old genius who marches proudly to her own beat. A deep thinker, Willow finds comfort in counting by sevens (hence the title,) but does not do well in school and has a lot of trouble relating to the kids at her school. Her adoptive parents accept and understand her quirks, but when she starts middle school, trouble begins. Despite a poor academic record, she aces a test and is soon accused of cheating and finds herself sent to see a barely competent guidance counsellor. Her path--an unpleasant one--seems to be set, until she makes friends with a couple of older kids who have to see the same counsellor. Mai...

The Complete Persepolis was like nothing that I had ever read before. An autobiography written as a beautifully illustrate graphic novel. And not only that, but what an autobiography. Marjane was an outspoken child of Marxists during the revolution in Iran. She was also the great-granddaughter of Iran's last emperor, and her uncle was exiled for a time and later executed. In this novel, she writes of a childhood richly entwined with a revolution and politics. She witnessed all kinds of hypocrisies and was eventually sent away by her parents to study in Europe. (There, she encounters many adventures, including discrimination and feeling like a stranger in a very different place, before eventually becoming someone who she thinks that her family will be ashamed of.) Eventually, she returns to Iran, finds love, studies at university and remains consistently strong and outspoken throughout, against a number of odds, before realising that being married, and living in the new Iran is...

This artwork decorates a tiny portion of a bridge in Morphett Vale, one that forms part of the Christie Creek Trail. Blink and you'll miss it, but I think that it's awesome anyway.

Ahoy, Maties! Marge the crazy, elderly babysitter with rainbow hair and a penchant for trouble (sorry, I mean fun,) is back for some more quirky adventures in Marge and the Pirate Baby. This time around Jemima Button and her little brother Jake, have their naughty baby cousin Zara in tow and Marge thinks that Zara might be a pirate. (It figures. Zara seems to like stealing things.) And that's just in their first adventure. (There's also a trip to the local pool, and a great wedding disaster to be had.) Marge and the Pirate Baby is quirky, laugh out loud funny and each of the stories is just long enough to keep kids entertained. (And adults as well.) In all honesty, I enjoyed this volume a bit more than the first, probably because the characters are a bit more established. It was also fun listening to Jemima mention other adventures that she's had with Marge. While the David Walliams quote on the back cover states the obvious, that Isla Fisher is hilarious (figures,...