Kathryn's Inbox

I was not prepared for just how much I would love Delilah Green Doesn't Care, a quirky contemporary romance, or how much I would love the intended to be unlikeable title character. Delilah Green is an up-and-coming photographer, living in New York. After having her heart broken, she has made up her mind that she doesn't do relationships. She also never returns back to her hometown, but both of those things change when she is summoned back to Bright Falls to be the photographer at her stepsister's wedding. Suddenly, she finds herself falling for Claire, the shy and geeky Maid of Honour who has a bad relationship history of her own. The fact that Delilah's budding relationship with Claire is bugging her stepsister is another reason to keep going. But what if Claire ends up getting hurt? And is bride-to-be Astrid and her friends really as horrible as Delilah remembers? This was such a fun, quirky novel. I loved that Delilah and Claire were very different from one another y...

What does it mean to love? That is the question at the heart of Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro's beautifully written and Booker Prize longlisted novel. Set in an unnamed era in the future the story opens with Klara, an Artificial Friend who has outstanding observational qualities. As she waits in the window of a shop to be chosen by a customer, we discover the extent of her sensitivity and unusual qualities--which include a worship of the sun, a fear of what she calls the Cootings machine (which is, presumably, some type of construction vehicle whose fumes block out the sun,) and the ability to observe the humans who pass the window in a way that the other AI cannot. Eventually, Klara is chosen by Josie, a lonely and sickly teenager, who is a victim of the era. In this era, teenagers undergo risky surgery to be 'upgraded.' The same surgery killed Josie's sister, and has left Josie ill. To not have the surgery however, would leave Josie ostracised by the outside world...

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The Whole of My World is a story of Aussie rules football. It is also a touching story of loss, grief and vulnerabilities. Set in the mid-1980s, we meet Shelley, who is fifteen years old and grieving for her mum. She and her dad don't really know how to cope, but Shelley knows that she is sick of the way the other kids at school look at her, so when her dad decides to send her to a private girls only school, she does not object. There she soon makes friends with Tara. Her new friend is cold and often sullen, but the pair support the same football team and Shelley soon finds herself going with Tara to games, joining the offical cheer squad and most exhilarating of all, going to training where she makes friends with one of her favourite players. Here she finds the chance she desperately needs to start again and not be defined by the tragic events of the past. But things aren't always as glamorous as they seem. Why is Mick--a professional footballer in his thirties--paying her so...

American author Ariel Lawthorn takes true events and shapes them into a twisty mystery in her latest offering The Frozen River. Martha Ballard is a midwife, living in small town in Maine of the Kennebec River. This particular winter is a tough one, and things take a sudden twist when a local man is found frozen in the ice in the river. Called to investigate, Martha finds herself examining the body of a local townsperson who is one of two men accused of the brutal rape of Rebecca Foster, the wife of a local minister. Martha is certain that the two crimes are linked--but proving it in a small town full of powerful men and petty prejudices will be something else entirely. This was an interesting, twisty read, based on the true life story of Martha Ballad--a midwife who could indeed read and write (unusual for her era,) and was often called upon to testify in the local court. Sadly the brutal attack on Rebecca Foster is also based on historical fact. The novel is well researched, well writ...

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Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back ... again. In yet another attempt to revive the bestselling Sweet Valley series, the first book in the middle-grade Sweet Valley Twins series has been reimagined as a graphic novel. Set in present day, the story opens with Elizabeth and Jessica starting sixth grade at Sweet Valley Middle School. The pair, who dress alike, and who do everything together (including sharing a phone,) begin to realise that they are developing different interests. Jessica is becoming interested in fashion and hanging out with a clique of popular mean girls, while Elizabeth hangs out with the less popular girls and is interested in starting up a sixth grade newspaper. Both twins struggle with, and embrace, what these differences mean, before eventually reaching a place of acceptance. The reimagining of this classic title from the original series is interesting enough but something about its existence feels very unnecessary. Certainly, Sweet Valley titles were best se...

One part a commentary on the best and worst that British television had to offer in the 1990s and one part a memoir of growing up in a small rural town, Watching Neighbours Twice a Day is both hilarious and relatable--even when the author is describing programmes that I have never heard of. The book opens with a discussion of Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays, a cheaply made programme which aired on a rural ITV station and featured a human and a rabbit that was intended to wish local kids a happy birthday ... and that may or may not have been misused on a number of occasions by local adults. From there we enter the strange world of 1990s television, an era in which people would still sit down to which television together and streaming your favourite programmes was unheard of. Widdicombe uses the programmes he remembers as a basis to tell the story of his own childhood, growing up in a small town and doing absolutely everything he could not to stand out during his high school years. ...

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Many, many readers of this blog from Adelaide, from South Australia and from Broken Hill and perhaps even from beyond will be immediately familiar with Peter Goers. For many years, Peter Goes has been a well-respected on-air host at ABC Adelaide, a columnist in the Sunday Mail, a theatre guru and critic and has done much other work besides. What I, personally, did not know until very recently was that his parents Margaret and Brian Goers were aboard Pan Am flight 759 which crashed in New Orleans on the 9th of July 1982 and was one of the worst airline accidents in the United States at that point in time. Their son was just twenty-five years old.  In the Air of an Afternoon Almost Past is Peter Goers memoir of this tragic situation and the unthinkable but all too real events that followed, being asked to travel immediately to the United States to identify the body, only to learn the real reason that the airline wanted him there so quickly was to try and fob him off with as little m...

Reader be warned. If You Could Go Anywhere is a novel that will break your heart ... before gently piecing it back together with themes of unconditional love and redemption. Twenty-seven year old Angie has always longed to travel and see the world outside of her home town of Coober Pedy, where she was raised by her grandparents, but there isn't much chance of that. Her grandfather died suddenly and she has been left to care for her beloved grandmother, Nan, who has dementia. When Nan passes away, Angie makes a surprising discovery about the identity of her father and with the help of her friends and neighbours, she finds herself travelling to Italy where she mets Guilo for the first time, and forms a strong friendship with his stepson, reckless adventurer Alessandro. When Angie learns a sad family story, she soon begins to realise why there is a darkness that surrounds Alessandro. But can she convince him that life is worth living ... before it is too late? This was a such a tear-...

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A little while back, bestselling author Neil Gaiman took to social media to ask people what their memories were of being warm. It was a topical question. Winter was coming, and, heartbreakingly, that means for people who have been forced to flee their homes and even their country, that they would struggle to stay warm. As the answers to his question came flooding in, Gaiman used them to construct a poem of what it means to be warm--and what it means for displaced people to be welcomed in the winter months. Thirteen different artists added illustrations and soon, this beautiful hardcover book was created. With proceeds going to UNHCR, I could see absolutely no reason why I wouldn't want to immediately buy this and add it to my collection. What You Need to be Warm certainly is a beautiful book. Although technically aimed at children, it is the kind of book that can be enjoyed--and loved--by readers of all ages. The themes of displacement and the simple act of helping someone keep wa...

From the time Elliot Page was thrust into the spotlight at a relatively young age playing a pregnant teenager in Juno he has lived out an extraordinary life in the public eye and one that is not without controversy, courage and criticism. In Pageboy, the actor tells his story in his own words and gives an often shocking behind the scenes glimpse at their life. Behind the amazing acting we've seen in The Umbrella Academy --and the deft storytelling that allowed the character to come out as a trans man along with the actor, is a complicated life. Page details the fraught relationship he has with his father, the abuse he suffered from his stepmother and the shocking sexual abuse he suffered as a young actor in Hollywood. There was also constant speculation about his sexuality and pressure to present a certain image to the world--until he decided to live his life on his own terms. This was an interesting read. As Page notes in the introduction, it is a story of his personal experiences...

In the mid-1960s Pop Artist Andy Warhol decided to create a novel that was in one part an experimental novel and one part a pop art answer to Ulysses. It begins with Warhol superstar Robert Olivo, known as Odine in the book, popping pills. Warhol, known as Drella in the book, begins taping him and will supposedly follow Odine for the next twenty four hours. (In reality, the taping occurred over a two year period, and at least one tape was thrown out the window by the irate mother of one of the young woman paid to transcribe the conversations.) What follows is a bunch of sometime mundane, sometimes perverse and sometimes downright bizarre conversations between some truly awful people. Left almost entirely unedited, the transcripts that form the novel are rough, often changing format depending on who was working on them and are filled with errors. It is horrible, yet a strange insight into the lives of those who were connected to Andy Warhol and his infamous factory. I did not enjoy this...

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The Sugar Queen is a sweet little title, both literally and metaphorically. This cosy romance, tinged with a little magical realism tells the story of Josey, an unappreciated young woman whose entire life revolves around being a carer for her cold and distant--but exceptionally wealthy--mother. Stuck in a small town with an entire population that hates her and lacking any kind of meaningful social contact, Josey finds her world upended first by the arrival of Helena, a housekeeper with magical talents and then by the discovery that tough talking local Della Lee is hiding out in her closet. Soon Josey finds herself running errands for Della Lee, all of which seem to be changing her life for the better ... suddenly Josey is developing a strong friendship with local restaurant owner Chloe, and finding the confidence to speak with her crush, local mailman Adam. But why is Della Lee so interested in her welfare? And why does she never seem to leave the closet? This is a fun read. There are...

When Gerald Durrell was ten, his family, his mother, his two brothers and his sister, made the surprising choice to pack up their home in England and to move to Corfu. My Family and Other Animals tells the story of this somewhat unusual family and the early part of their stay on the island. The Durrells are all quite eccentric, their mother is warm hearted but not always sensible, brother Leslie likes his guns and shooting, while Larry is a writer with a number of quirky friends. (In real life these friends included Henry Miller, whose work was deeply influential on a young Lawrence Durrell.) Margo is in her teens and concerned with her appearance (and making the occasional unsuitable match). And then, of course there is Gerald, who soon becomes fascinated by all of the animals on the island and adopts all kinds of unusual pets, and makes some surprising friends. This is an unusual, quirky read. It is quite fun in a lot of places. Gerald Durrell certainly portrays his family as eccent...

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The bestselling BSC Graphix series is back and this time classic BSC title Stacey's Mistake is up for a graphic novel adaption. This one is particularly special to me, as the original was the first BSC novel I ever owned. I have wonderful memories of selecting this title from John Martin's book department, in the basement of their legendary (and now sadly demolished) Rundle Mall store. (Yep, that's the same place that was home to The Magic Cave, Eliza's Restaurant and the best toy department ever.) Stacey's Mistake takes the reader to New York. Founding BSC member Stacey McGill has recently moved to New York and now the other six members of the BSC are travelling from Stoneybrook, Connecticut to New York to stay with their friend over a long weekend. Stacey has a lot of plans in store for her friends--sightseeing, a party so that her New York friends can meet her Stoneybrook friends and, of course, a big babysitting job. The only trouble is, nothing about their visi...

One of the first reality television programmes in Australia was Popstars and, as many would know, the girl band that the television programme created, Bardot, was exceptionally popular and sadly short-lived. The Girl in the Band is the memoir of Belinda Chapple, one of the five young women who out of the thousands of talented hopefuls gained a spot in the band. For Chapple the band, and the show, was not what she hoped it would be. She soon found herself exhausted, struggling with body image and earning just thirty-five dollars a day.  The Girl in the Band is an interesting glimpse into the entertainment industry. Chapple details her experiences, with false starts, all kinds of unusual gigs and then an opportunity of a lifetime that soon turned sour for her. The memoir showcases the fickle, ruthless nature of the industry and how big dreams can so easily be shattered. There is a bit of behind the scenes gossip, though fortunately the author refrains from being mean or cruel, eve...

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Reality TV can be a brutal place. Alisha Aiken-Radburn never realised just how brutal it could be--or the backlash that would follow on social media. A former Labor staff member based in Canberra, working in Bill Shorten's office no less, Alisha auditioned for The Bachelor and made it onto the show. She soon discovers that what happens behind the scenes is very different to what viewers see in the very carefully edited episodes. The Villain Edit is her memoir of her time on the show and appearing on two seasons of Bachelor in Paradise and how through heartbreak and finding her future husband she finds a way to take control of her relationships--and the narrative. This one was an interesting read about what it means to go on reality TV. For Alisha, much of the narrative was controlled for her, and was not reflective of her personal experiences. It is also a memoir of how toxic social media can be. The real strength of the memoir is the author's willingness to be vulnerable. I...

Twenty-three year old Till has lived in the darkest shadow of an event that she was powerless to stop--the abduction of her best friend when the two were just five years old. Understandably, the event and the attention she gained from being the child who saw it happen have left a scar. Now an adult, she finds herself on the run from her past. She arrives in an outback town, a long way from home, only to discover that danger lurks here too. This time around she needs to make a decision--to run or to face the danger head on. When I was offered a copy of Days of Innocence and Wonder to review, I was immediately intrigued. After all, Lucy Treloar is an accomplished Australian writer of literary fiction, with two wonderful, award winning literary novels under her belt, Salt Creek and Wolfe Island. The plot of Days of Innocence and Wonder certainly sounded compelling. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one as much as I hoped. I knew the plot was going to be dark and that parts would be c...

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