Kathryn's Inbox

Okay. I confess. I could not resist that cover and all of the nostalgic vibes it brought back. Of being a kid and ordering a cheap paperback from a Scholastic catalogue about other kids doing things that were simultaneously ordinary and ever-so-slightly extraordinary. Plus the title mentions frogs and I like frogs. There's a Frog In My Sleeping Bag is a stand-alone story that forms part of a loosely linked series of books about the kids in a third grade class who all have adventures that somehow feature animals. It tells the story of Janna, a lively girl who struggles with the fact that her Spanish mother has raised both her and her younger brother to be fluent in both English and Spanish. But, enough of that. Janna is looking forward to the school camp ... where she finds herself in a whole lot of trouble and as the victim of a number of pranks. Including the aforementioned frog in her sleeping bag.  This was a lot of fun. The book was published well, some time ago, but the theme...

British comedian Rik Mayall, best known for The Young Ones and Drop Dead Fred offers readers a delightful satire on the typical celebrity memoirs in Bigger Than Hitler Better Than Christ. He presents himself to the reader as a delusional twit, certain that he is the biggest celebrity in the world, and offers a heavily embellished account of his career. The whole thing is a lot of fun, though the joke soon becomes tired. Mayall never for a single moment breaks character which is, in some ways, hilarious but the book does tend to drag after a while. I think this probably would have been more interesting had he written a heavily embellished introduction and an embellished afterword with all of the serious bits in between, but I do respect that that was never his comic style and he was never going to be the sort of comedian to release a serious memoir. Regardless it is an entertaining reminder of a talented comedian who died when he was still too young. Recommended.

I was intrigued by Amanda Montell's Cultish from the moment that I picked up a copy at my local bookshop. For a while now, I've had the feeling that words and language are often used as a weapon and the means of creating in-groups and out-groups, so a book that takes an in-depth look at contemporary cults and how they weaponise words and language as the ultimate form of power was of immediate interest to me. And then, as I took it up to the counter, the bookseller could not give it a high enough recommendation. This, I decided, this is a book for our times ... What I got was a well-researched and in-depth look at different types of contemporary cults. Montell takes a look at religious cults, in particular charismatic leaders like Jim Jones and how their emotive language trapped members and led to the utterly horrific and needless tragedy at Jonestown. In addition, Montell looks at other types of cults, from cult fitness, to wellness influencers and other annoying things that t...

Told in a mix of prose and three panel comics Duck: Look Who's Talking is, unsurprisingly, the story of a Duck. It's also the story of Duck's friends Mouse and Dog and of the sheltered and somewhat vain Pony. It's also the story of a cafe that has just opened up in the town of Redhill and the animals are not amused, by either the cafe or its supposedly charismatic leader. Duck, Mouse and Dog need to leap into action. The results are hilarious. This was a fun, though somewhat drawn out read that reminded me a little of a grown up telling a ridiculous story that they did not quite know how to finish. The comics in between the prose were a fun touch. Kids are sure to get a laugh out of this one. Recommended.

Debut Aussie author Stephanie MacFie takes the cut-throat world of commercial radio and weaves it into a delightful story of tenacity with a fairy tale ending in Once Upon A Breakfast Show. And the result is terrific.   Emily Blake has a massively successful career as the co-host of Mack and Blake in the Morning, a top-rating Melbourne based radio show. Nothing has been off limits as Blake discusses her relationships and the realities of being a single mum with her listeners. Things take a sudden twist, however, when her twelve year old daughter starts asking questions about the father she has never known. Suddenly, Blake finds herself talking about the one perfect week she spent with a European visitor to Australia, and an on-air search begins to track the man down. And what happens next is well ... surprising. This was such a fun read. The author worked in radio for fifteen years and uses her vast knowledge and experience to set the scene against the backdrop of a fun but ob...

Frederick Fife is an amiable and generous man. However, at age 82 he has found himself completely alone and close to homelessness. His luck changes, however, when a case of mistaken identity leads him to assume the identity of Bernard Greer, a miserable and lonely old resident at a nursing home. Frederick suddenly finds himself making all kinds of friends at the nursing home, but the biggest challenge of all comes when Bernard's estranged daughter comes to visit ... This was an entertaining and sometimes heartbreaking story of a once lonely old man and his found family. Frederick is an entertaining character, full of life, friendliness and just a little bit of mischief as he tries to hold on to everything that is good at the nursing home. (Though it certainly has its faults, as the story arc involving Denise shows.) Running parallel to the story of Frederick is that of Hannah, who suffers the loss of her sister and then more as her father becomes abusive. I found that the novel rel...