Kathryn's Inbox

What a lot of fun Digging Up Dirt turned out to be. The first novel in a brand new series, it tells the story of Poppy McGowan, a researcher for a children's television programme made by the ABC, who has just learned that bones have been found beneath her home, an old heritage home located bang in the centre of a posh Sydney suburb. And if that wasn't bad enough, she now has to put up with the fact that Dr Julienne Weaver, an old enemy, has been tasked with examining the bones. But the worst (or best) is yet to come, when Julienne is found murdered in Poppy's house. Everyone has a motive for wanting the nasty, manipulative Julienne dead, from the members of the ultra-right wing Australian Family Party (of which Julienne was a member,) to her ex-boyfriends and most important of all Poppy herself. This was a fun read from start to finish. While I have absolutely no doubt that it will appeal to fans of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, the author's ability to poke fun a...

What an unexpected delight Anna Karenina turned out to be. Like many people, I was most familiar with Tolstoy's second most famous epic (after War and Peace ,) for the many television and film adaptions and the tragic, climatic scene where the title character throws herself in front of a train. (Superbly and wordlessly played here by Greta Garbo .) Set in Russia in the mid 19th century, it tells of the lives of several connected upper class families, where social standing is often considered to be more important than personal happiness, and hints at the murmurings of the widespread changes that were already starting to take place within Russia though, obviously, in 1870 when the book was first published, Tolstoy would have had no idea what was to come for Russia and the surrounding countries in the twentieth century. The novel tells the story of two different but vaguely connected relationships. The title character, Anna Karenina has come to visit her brother to help him smooth out...

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  “We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.”  ~ Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

A special publication to celebrate Australian Reading Hour, The Deep End is a sweet story of a girl. A girl who completely humiliates herself at the school swimming carnival. A girl who feels that she can never show her face at school again. Then the hottest boy in her year, who is also a swimming champion, offers to give her swimming lessons. The Deep End is a fun story. Rosie is a character who is easy for readers to relate to, as she struggles to swim in a race, eventually humiliating herself in front of the whole school. And Jake Tran is a pretty awesome character too--it's rare to read a book where the hottest boy in school also turns out to be a genuinely nice person. Of course, he has his own problems, anxiety and a pushy mother who is so desperate for her son to do well in his chosen sport that she cannot see how much Jake is struggling. Of course, the pair help one another, but soon it seems that they might be more than just friends ... and none of their parents are happ...

  Before she lived in her famous dwelling, Green Hedges, Enid Blyton lived in a cottage called Old Thatch with her first husband and their two daughters.

It would be  easy to sum up Normal People in one word. Overhyped. After all, Normal People has been discussed endlessly in the media, on Goodreads, on social media sites such as Instagram (better known among its many devotees as bookstagram.) The book has already been made into a BBC Three/Hulu series with a second series forthcoming and is reached the saturation point where it's possible to find Normal People gifs and memes on twitter and facebook. If readers are well, a little sick of hearing about Normal People, then who could possibly blame them?  On the other hand, Normal People clocked up some fabulous achievements. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Women's Prize for fiction in 2018, and it won the Costa Book Award and Book of the Year for the British Book Awards. On the other side of the Atlantic, Kirkus gave the novel one of their coveted starred reviews. And did I mention that the author was in her mid-twenties at the time the book was published? ...

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  “All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”  ~ J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

The tenth BSC Graphix novel turns its attention to BSC President Kristy Thomas. This isn't much of a surprise, given that Kristy had one of the strongest plot lines of the early novels. A tomboy, well organised and occasionally a little too bossy, she's the perfect character to find herself in a rags to riches storyline. Her mother has now married millionaire Watson Brewer. Kristy has not been affected by her new lifestyle. She's still Kristy, she still wears the same clothes, she has the same friends and she still goes to the same school. It is just that Kristy is having problems with the kids in her new, wealthy neighbourhood.  The main instigator is Shannon, a girl the same age as Kristy, who makes fun of her clothes, the Baby-sitters Club and she even makes fun of Kristy's beloved collie Louie, who is old and sick with arthritis. But when Shannon starts playing mean pranks on Kristy while she's baby-sitting, and potentially puts the kids in danger, it's obvi...

  Actor Melissa George made her fortune in part by the invention of magnetic, removable hem clips. 

The fifth Bridgerton novel turns its attention to Eloise, the fifth born Bridgerton and best friend (and now sister-in-law) of Penelope Fetherington. Eloise is twenty-eight years old, outspoken and a spinster by choice, having now turned down six proposals. She also enjoys writing letters and will find any excuse to write one. When she sends a short note of condolence to Sir Phillip Crane after his wife passes away, she does not intend for it to eventually lead to a proposal of marriage. Or that she would run away from the family home to meet him. Or that the pair would be complete opposites, and unable to get along. This was an entertaining, light romance about a pair of opposites who turn out to be the perfect match for one another. There are lots of laugh out loud Bridgeton moments (the shotgun wedding is a particular highlight,) in between a few raunchy scenes and a bit of romance. I enjoyed this one as just a bit of fun and I will probably read the next book in the series soon....

Published many years before Animal Farm (and, consequently 1984, ) Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London is a work of auto fiction, based on two stints the author spent in poverty. The first was a deliberate act, with Orwell posing as a tramp for two months in London. The second arose while living in Paris, Orwell was recovering from an injury when he was robbed. Down and Out in Paris and London takes these two experiences and changes a few of the details and some of the names around, presumably so that people wouldn't recognise themselves or suffer any embarrassment, so that he can expose a bigger issue--of what it really means to be living below the poverty line and how easily those who have nothing can be exploited. The novel opens in Paris (see, I told you some of the details had been changed,) with Orwell unemployed and living in a cheap hotel. An entire chapter is devoted to a vile man he meets there (basically, the man goes about in pubs bragging about how he had r...

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  “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”  ~ John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Sweet Valley High ... as a graphic novel? You bet. In 2019 the first (and to date only,) Sweet Valley High graphic novel was released. A fun but sincere attempt to revive the brand, this one was released by graphic novel powerhouse Dynamite Comics, was written by Katy Rex who previously worked for Dynamite on a series of Charmed graphic novels and illustrated by Devaki Neogi who in addition to her work illustrating graphic novels works in fashion design, which is entirely appropriate, given Jessica Wakefield's extreme interest in fashion. The single best element of this graphic novel lies in the fact that it's a reimagining of the original series, rather than a straight out. The stories is new, certain elements of the twins lives have be rearranged and the author and artist makes the most out of technology and social media--things that fit in perfectly with the lives of the Wakefield twins and their friends. I had more than a bit of a giggle when I discovered that Jessica's...

  There are two Looney Tunes shorts in which Sylvester J Pussycat is cast opposite Elmer Fudd, Back Alley Oproar and Kit For Cat. Both are directed by Friz Freeling. 

With a front cover and blurb that promises lots of fun and romantic misunderstandings, how could I possibly resist this romantic comedy from US based writing duo, Christina Lauren. Olive and Ethan aren't exactly what you might call friends. Enemies would be a better word. Which is kind of a problem, because Olive's identical twin sister Ami is just about to get hitched to Ethan's younger brother Dane. Things take a massive turn for the worse when, at the wedding reception, the entire bridal party and all of the guests--except for Olive and Ethan--find themselves struck down with food poisoning. Suddenly, Olive and Ethan find themselves being shuffled off together on the non-refundable but all-expenses-paid honeymoon. But can these sworn enemies possibly put their mutual hatred aside long enough to enjoy the trip of a lifetime?  On the whole, this was an entertaining romance that follows the standard enemies-to-lovers trope, offering a few laughs and misunderstandings along ...

  “‘But man is not made for defeat,’ he said. ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.’”  ~ Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

Twins is such a cute little read. It's a graphic novel about sisters--identical twins--who are going through some changes. Maureen and Francine are about to start middle school. They've always dressed the same, and been in the same class, but now that they are starting sixth grade, things are different. For a start, the pair only have three classes together. And suddenly Francine is acting well, different. First of all, she seems pleased that she and Maureen have only three classes together. Second, she wants to dress and look different from her sister. Third, she wants to be known as Fran. Fourth, and finally, she's constantly busy and doesn't seem to have time for Maureen anymore, even though Maureen is struggling to find her feet at her new school. Then both sisters decide to run for class president for very different reasons, without telling the other what they plan to do. Suddenly its war. Can the sisters ever be friends again? I loved Shannon Wright's artwork...

  In the early years of the Garfield comic strip, Jon Arbuckle occasionally appeared smoking a pipe.