Kathryn's Inbox

  Happy Halloween everyone! This year, when I discovered that the Garfield specials are now all available to view on YouTube, I just couldn't resist sharing this surprisingly creepy Halloween special from the mid 1980s. Enjoy!

Loyalty is the topic that sits at the very heart of this Booker Prize winning novel from Kazuo Ishiguro. The year is 1956. Stevens has been the head butler at Darlington Hall, a large and prestigious estate in the United Kingdom that has recently been purchased by--gasp--an American. England is slowly changing, with less wealth and aristocratic families and even Darlington Hall is now a shadow of the great estate that it used to be, with just handful of servants. Stevens' employer, Mr Farraday, urges him to take a holiday and offers him the use of his vehicle. Soon Stevens finds himself travelling through England as he reminisces about the days gone by--and the important events and opportunities for happiness that passed him by out of a misguided sense of loyalty and duty to his employer, a man who was not on the right side of history. Gently written, this was a beautiful novel about a seemingly prestigious career and the sacrifices one man made, partly through fear and partly thro...

Over the years, I have often joked that I never trust anyone who tells me that The Secret History is their favourite novel. Mostly, this is because it is one of those big, precocious novels, written when the author was still in her twenties when it was published, it's long and it engages with some dark themes that some readers mistake for truths. In other words, there is a certain element of people out there who claim it is their favourite book to try and appear smart. Then there is the smaller, and more dangerous readership, the ones who have read it and who love it because they over-identify with the main character, Richard Papen, who is spineless, lacks empathy for others and his whole part in the novel is due to the fact that he desires to be a part of an elite group. Then there are the rest of us. People who pick up the book because it is a best seller. Or, maybe because it was written by the author of The Goldfinch . Maybe they found it on one of those lists of best books to...

  View this post on Instagram Full moon rising. A post shared by Kathryn White (@kathryns_inbox) on Oct 1, 2020 at 2:19am PDT

  This week, a short Donald Duck clip. I think everyone who has suffered a bout of insomnia will be able to identify with this one. 

I've often heard the expression never judge a book by its cover, but in this particular instance, never judge a book by its title may be apt. There is no denying one thing. That title is confronting. Over the years, I've occasionally seen it used by critics to pull the author down a peg or two, usually when they are criticising one of her other works. And it's probably not the best reflection of what the book is about. This 154 page novella tells the story of Teena Maguire, an adult woman who is gang raped by a group of thugs while her twelve-year-old daughter Bethyl watches, frightened and helpless. Teena is left on the floor of a boat shed to die, but the intervention of Bethyl and the police officer that arrives on the scene ensures that she receives medical attention. And then comes the emotionally confronting or perhaps even crushing, aftermath. Author Joyce Carol Oates tells it like it is, showing in detail the fallout. There is cruel gossip from the neighbours, a fa...

  View this post on Instagram From the vault ... Book Stop at Victor Harbor, the Victor Harbor Book Exchange and The Raven’s Parlour at Tanunda. Taken in April 2019. #bookshop #bookstagramaustralia #australianbookstagram #aussiekiwibooksta #bibliophile #southaustralia #victorharbor #tanunda A post shared by Kathryn White (@kathryns_inbox) on Oct 4, 2020 at 5:56am PDT

  Just wanted to share this wonderful clip from The Curiosity Show that talks about sand dunes. As regular followers of this blog will be aware, The Curiosity Show was a children's television programme from the 1980s that was filmed here in South Australia that introduced a number of important scientific concepts to viewers. Although targeted at children in their middle and upper years of primary school, many of the segments can be appreciated by viewers of all ages. PS I'm keen to know where the shots of the dunes were taken at the beginning and end of the clip?

Vinegar Girl is the forth novel that I have read in the Hograth Shakespeare series and it is the best yet. A modern day retelling of The Taming of the Shrew, author Anne Tyler takes us to contemporary America. Kate Battista spends her days working at a job that she hates and is ill-suited to, and her evenings being a sort-of live in housekeeper for her eccentric scientist father and her bratty teenage sister. With no friends and no relationship prospects she drifts through life feeling unappreciated. Then, suddenly, her father has a strange proposal. He wants her to marry his Russian lab assistant Pyotr, so that he can stay in the country. And then Pyotr begins a charming and eccentric campaign to win the bitter Kate's heart ... This was an entertaining social comedy served with a lot of heart. Kate is as bitter as bitter can be, but from the moment that the blunt but always well meaning Pyotr appears on the page, it is obvious that the pair are a perfect match--even if their rela...

The Australian rural landscape can be harsh, beautiful and often isolating. In her debut collection of short stories, Margaret Hickey explores this landscape and the many people and unique situations within. There's the footballer who leaves the city behind to go home every weekend, the terminally ill mother who thinks that the Gold Coast is the best place in the world and who has trouble seeing eye-to-eye with her Melbourne born and bred daughter-in-law, and a bloke who just likes birds who arouses suspicion in others.  Author Margaret Hickey's talent lies not only in creating believable characters and situations, but adding some kind of a twist to the story that, while always unexpected, is nearly always fitting. A particular highlight for me, however, was Mind Your Language , about a single mum who swears often but who quite beautifully teaches the school principal a thing or two about politeness.  Overall this is an enjoyable collection, with an eclectic mix of characters ...

  View this post on Instagram While also on my walk, I spotted this amazing, unusual chimney on what I suspect is someone’s back shed or even a guest room or an old laundry or wash house. A post shared by Kathryn White (@kathryns_inbox) on Oct 4, 2020 at 9:43pm PDT

  When I learned that Laurie Halse Anderson had author a graphic novel staring a teenage Wonder Woman, I just knew that I had to buy it. Add to that the fact that it is beautifully illustrated by Leila Del Duca, and the whole thing is a winner. Like other graphic novels in DC's latest series for young adult readers, this one is a origin story, about the days before Diana Prince took on the alias of Wonder Woman to carry out her work. Diana is living peacefully on Thermyscira, under the watchful eye of her mother, when her intervention with some refugees who are caught in a storm lead her to being lost and placed in an immigration detention camp a long way from home. Fortunately, her knowledge of languages and compassion for others soon leads her to catching the eye of an official, and she finds herself in the USA on a student visa. But there, when trying to help some poverty stricken families, she discovers that something terribly sinister is going on. And she must put a stop to it...

Arguably the best of Terry Pratchett's Discworld Novels, Equal Rites introduces readers to his beloved character Granny Weatherwax, and what a spectacular ride this book is. (And no, unlike Granny's broom, you won't need to give it a jump start.) The third Discworld novel opens with a surprising conundrum. In Discworld, the eighth son of an eighth son is always a wizard. In the town of Bad Ass, wizard Drum Billet is waiting to pass on his staff and power to a boy who has just been born. A lot of arrogance and sexism goes on in Discworld and as a consequence, Drum fails to check that the baby is in fact, a boy, and unintentionally passes on his staff and power to a baby girl named Eskarina or Esk for short. The Discworld has its first female wizard, and no one quite knows what to do with her. What follows is an entertaining ride as Granny Weatherwax, the local witch tries to guide and help Esk find her place in the world and, hopefully, challenge a few stuffy old wizards al...

  I stumbled across this Tweety meme, which caused me to do what most memes do--laugh for a brief second or two, and then scroll on. Then, for one reason or another, I found myself scrolling back and taking a second look. Not because I thought that the meme was that funny, but because I find it kind of fascinating that Tweety, a character from Looney Tunes appears so often in these memes. Memes often feature highly recognisable characters, coupled with text that tends to vary. There's condescending Willy Wonka, usually accompanied by the words "tell me again," Haymitch from the Hunger Games who reminds us that "One does not simply ..." and Kermit the Frog, who will follow up a patronising statement by drinking a cup of Liptons tea and adding, "But that's none of my business." Some are funny, others are infuriating, most of them are just downright forgettable.  Tweety is an interesting choice. The character appears, on the surface to be quite cute. ...