Kathryn's Inbox

There are two things you can do when it turns out that one of your favourite authors of Literary Fiction is also the author of a children's book about bums that you never read when you were a kid because they never had a copy in your school library. You can shrug your shoulders, say, 'That's cool' and move on with your life. Or you can do what I did, and hunt down a copy on Booktopia, read it and then write a review, because I genuinely think that it's awesome that not only did Tim Winton write this, but that Penguin books published it and it's been reissued a couple of times.  Anyway ... The Bugalugs Bum Thief. Skeeta is just an ordinary kid who wakes up one summer morning to make a startling discovery. His bum is gone. Missing. There's just this big hollow where it used to be and now he can't sit and he's having trouble keeping his pyjama pants up. Things soon get worse when he discovers that his parents are both missing their bums. And so too are...

  If Kit and Heloise from The Phantom comic aged in real time, they would be in their forties by now.

John Green is best known for being the author of several YA novels, most of them a little bit literary, a little bit depressing and always a lot readable. A number of them have been made into films, most notably The Fault in Our Stars, which tackles the topic of teenage cancer with a delicate mix of honesty and sensitivity. The Anthropocene Reviewed is John Green's first published book of non fiction. It's a series of essays in which he offers his thoughts, or well, his review on everything and anything from CNN to Geese to the origins of Monopoly. Interwoven into the narrative are little bits of autobiography, telling of the author's life, his struggles with anxiety and depression and some of his heartbreaking experiences as a Chaplin at a children's hospital. (He did not continue with that line of work.) I found The Anthropocene Reviewed to be an entertaining read that was simultaneously about everything and nothing. Although parts of the essays were deeply persona...

Don't let the title deceive you. The latest novel from Canadian author Robyn Harding may be titled The Perfect Family, but I can assure you that the Adler's are anything but perfect. Sure, they may look perfect from the outside, living in a spacious and tastefully decorated home. Thomas Adler has a very successful career in real estate, while his wife Viv's new career as an interior decorator is gaining momentum. Their son Eli has just spent a year away at an elite college where he is the star of the soccer team, and their daughter Tarryn, a junior in high school, is also set to have a promising college career ahead of her. But each of the members of this family is hiding a sordid secret from the others. And now, it seems, someone knows and wants to get their revenge on this not-quite-so-perfect family. Robyn Harding has become something of a master at scandal fiction, telling stories about the sordid secrets that can be hiding by seemingly the most ordinary of people. Wit...

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  “Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Harper Lee, To Kill a  Mockingbird 

Recently, I've posted a couple of Sweet Valley themed posts here, and a few more over on Instagram, and I've been blown away by the response. Obviously, the books were huge in their day, and I've always felt a bit nostalgic for them in later years, but I never realised just how many Sweet Valley fans out there feel the same way. Consequently, I've decided to start a semi regular feature that shines a little spotlight on all things Sweet Valley. And while I'm going to make an effort to include all four main series ( Sweet Valley High , Sweet Valley Twins , Sweet Valley Kids and Sweet Valley University ,) and give at least some time to the spin-offs, as the name suggests, I will mostly be focusing on Sweet Valley Twins and its spin-offs, The Unicorn Club, Team Sweet Valley and Sweet Valley Jr High.  So ... Sweet Valley Twins . The series launched by Bantam (a part of Random House,) on July 1 1986, a little over three years after the debut of Sweet Valley High . Lik...

  Although Yatala, a town in Queensland and Yatala Prison in the suburb of Northfield in South Australia are spelled the same,  they are pronounced differently. 

Pratchett's sixth Discworld novel offers readers a delightful (and often hilarious,) parody of Shakespeare. The second Discworld novel to feature the formidable Granny Weatherwax, finds her with two fellow witches in tow, Nannie Ogg, whose family seems to expand by the minute and the far younger and much more whimsical Magrat. Nothing much seems to be happening in their world. That is, until the king gets murdered by someone who wants to take the throne, and Granny and their friends find themselves tasked with looking after is the deceased king's son. And then comes the much harder task of trying to set things right in the new kingdom, which is kind of difficult, as the successor to the throne wants to do away with all witches. It's going to take a little meddling, and a lot of creativity for the witches to get out of this one. As is often the case with Pratchett's world, this one was hilarious with plenty of laugh out loud moments (in particular I enjoyed reading about...

Almost from the first page, I had the sense that there was something more, some kind of detail or plot twist to Catch Us the Foxes , the debut novel from Nicola West. The only difficulty was that I was not quite sure what was up. On the one hand, here was a cleverly crafted scene, opening with an author giving a talk--at a packed Sydney Opera House no less--about her best selling work of auto-fiction. The novel then becomes a story within a story, as the reader is treated to Marlow 'Lo' Robertson's bestseller about how she discovered the body of her best friend, who had been murdered at the local Showgrounds--while the local show is on, no less. Lo is also stunned to discover a collection of strange symbols on her best friend's back, symbols that her father--the local police sergeant--forbids her to talk about. Soon, it becomes apparent that the town and some of the most important people in it, may be involved in something top secret, and deeply depraved. The question i...

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It has been a long time since I read the original version of Karen's Kittycat Club --more than thirty years in fact. In fact--and here's a tidbit for those of you who have been following this blog for a while and know of my obsession with all things related to the Baby-Sitters Club--it was the second Ann M Martin book that I had ever read. The first was Me and Katie (the Pest.) I borrowed this one in partly because it had cats in it, partly because the kids on the original cover seemed to be having a lot of fun and partly because I'd enjoyed reading  Me and Katie (the Pest.) At that point, I'd never heard of the Baby-Sitter's Club series and my discovery of Kristy and the Snobs  was a whole week away. (Bizarrely, I found that book in an entirely different part of the library from Karen's Kittycat Club .) Anyway, that's probably a story that isn't interesting to anyone other than me, so I'll get back to my original point which is that at some time w...

  “Not all those who wander are lost.” JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

  The Phantom comic strip had existed for approximately two years before Detective Comics created Kit Walker's fellow cave dwelling superhero, Batman.

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  “The Answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Universe and Everything is…42!” Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Avocados are fruit, not vegetables.

Hi all, something exciting today, a guest post from an amazing new Australian author. I loved reading the piece that Nicola sent me and hope you do too ~ Kathryn. Hi, readers of Kathryn’s Inbox! My name’s Nicola, and I’m the author of the debut Australian novel, Catch Us the Foxes . Set in the bucolic seaside town I grew up in, Catch Us the Foxes is a gripping psychological thriller that follows a young journalist’s gruesome discovery at the town’s annual show. With national interest in the murder of the reigning showgirl growing by the day, the journalist must decide if she wants to help keep a dark secret or break the biggest story of her career. The novel is inspired by my love of small-town murder mysteries (I’m obsessed with Twin Peaks), as well as my desperation to escape my former hometown, and my experience as the daughter of a third-generation police officer. It also explores the horrifying yet well-documented rumours of ritualistic slayings that allegedly took place in the a...

We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackon's final novel is a haunting tale of a wealthy family left to ruin. For as long as anyone knows, the Blackwood family have always lived in a large family estate that is walled off to the local village. But now there are only three of the Blackwoods left, sisters, the sensible and caring Constance and whimsical and childish Merricat, and their sickly Uncle Julian. Soon, it becomes apparent that things are a little well, off. The local villagers hate the family and it is only Merricat who ventures out to buy supplies and only on prescribed days, taking a very specific route, one that fits in with a game that she seems to be playing with herself. We see Merricat harassed by a couple of villagers and the reader is almost inclined to feel sorry for her, after all, it seems that the rest of the family died years before and Constance was charged, though later acquitted of trying to poison them. One could almost feel sorry for Merricat, ex...

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  “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone … just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

  At one stage, New York was known as "New Orange."

A toxic relationship is at the very heart of this LGBTQI+ graphic novel. Freddy Riley is learning the hard way that love hurts. All she wants, more than anything, is to have a meaningful relationship with her girlfriend, Laura Dean, who she loves more than anything. But Laura Dean likes to live life on her terms, and doesn't seem to understand how her actions and choices can hurt the people around her, especially Freddy. The pair break up after Laura Dean cheats on her, and Freddy finds herself searching for answers. Her search continues as she and Laura Dean get back together again, and she neglects her best friend Doodle, who is going through some pretty heavy duty struggles of her own. Eventually, Freddy realises what she needs to do, and how she deserves to be treated. This was a compelling read, one that provides readers with some insight into the nature of toxic relationships. Laura Dean is portrayed as being selfish to the point where she truly cannot comprehend how her beha...