Kathryn's Inbox

Exciting news! The Aussie Author Challenge is back in 2020. Hosted by Booklover Book Reviews, this challenge is now in its 11th year and remains my favourite reading challenge. Once again, I will be taking part and am looking forward to discovering some great new Australian books and authors.  One of the best things about this challenge is the flexibility--there are many different ways to participate and there are many different levels, based on what is right for you. You don't even have to be a blogger, you can link straight to your Goodreads reviews. On a more personal note, I will be aiming for Emu, which is a new level that has been introduced to the challenge this year.  During 2019 I read and reviewed 26 books for the Aussie Author Challenge and, for the first time, had the privilege of reading and reviewing a book written by a family member. (Lucky for me I genuinely enjoyed it and had no trouble at all writing an honest review.) I also discovered many...

Sharing, because, seriously, is there anything more touching than the moment that Huey, Dewey and Louie were reunited with their mother, Della Duck? The makers of DuckTales put considerable thought and effort into the introduction of Della Duck into the series, a character who has previously only made fleeting appearances, with her sons usually in the custody of Donald Duck or, occasionally, Uncle Scrooge. The new DuckTales builds a convincing backstory, with Della being alone in space, unable to return until she had rebuilt her space ship. 

Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is back in Christmas Shopaholic , the ninth instalment in what has become a beloved series. Following on from their adventures in the United States, Becky, Luke and Minnie are back in England. Living in the country, Becky is helping her best friend Suze run a gift shop at her vast family estate and things are looking up. Christmas is coming, Jess and Tom will be returning from Chile and it seems that the whole family will be together to celebrate the holiday. Then Becky's parents drop a bombshell. They're renting a tiny apartment in a trendy part of London, and would Becky mind hosting Christmas this year? And that, it seems, is only the beginning of Becky's troubles. Soon she and Luke are being pursued by one of Becky's ex-boyfriends (and his very ruthless girlfriend,) it looks as though Jess and Tom have split up and Jess doesn't want to tell anyone, and Becky's parents are acting like a couple of teenagers. Add to that th...

Sharing, because who hasn't felt like this at least once at Christmas time? For anyone who really isn't feeling the Christmas spirit, I hope you're doing okay amidst all the mass commercialism. 

Sharing, because somehow, it just isn't Christmas if someone doesn't make at least one reference to that episode of Mr Bean where he got a turkey stuck on his head. It is probably one of the best remembered episodes of the show.

I've shared this one in Christmases past, but there is just something delightful about this very 1970s song by the Goodies (who as many of you will know, were also a music group, though they were better known for their television series.) It's fun, it's a little daggy and, after all, it's Christmas!

View this post on Instagram I spotted this furbie on Grote Street outside of Her Majesty's Theatre, which is currently getting a major renovation. Have you spotted any awesome or memorable pieces of sticker art recently and if so, where? #stickerart #streetart #adelaidefurbies #grotestreet #adelaide #southaustralia A post shared by Kathryn White (@kathryns_inbox) on Nov 1, 2019 at 6:26pm PDT

This week, just a short and funny clip from Merry Christmas Mr Bean, in which he encounters a pick pocket and helps out a Salvation Army band!

For fans of Flowers in the Attic of the many mysteries of the novel and its sequels is who was the first Corrine, the mysterious woman who slept in the swan bed, who gave birth to the formidable Malcolm Foxworth and whose granddaughter would be named after her and eventually persuaded to lock her children away in an attic and slowly poison them. Was Corrine the evil monster that Malcolm portrayed her to be? Or was she really the smartest Foxworth woman of them all, the one who was able to escape and leave every trace of Foxworth Hall behind? Beneath the Attic , the first volume in a three part spin-off prequel series written by V.C. Andrews ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman seeks to answer that question. The novel opens in the late 19th century with Corrine a spoiled and sexually precocious young woman who finds herself in a bit too deep when she makes the acquaintance of Garland Foxworth, an ultra rich twenty-something. Garland wastes no time in taking advantage of Corrine, groomi...

View this post on Instagram All aboard the Almond Train! I had a lovely trip to McLaren Vale this morning and stopped by the Almond Train for a lovely Devonshire Tea. (Or in my case, coffee.) #almondtrain #almondtraincafe #mclarenvale #fleurieupeninsula #adelaide #southaustralia A post shared by Kathryn White (@kathryns_inbox) on Oct 18, 2019 at 7:30pm PDT