Kathryn's Inbox

When Kellie Finlayson was just twenty-five years old, she received a shocking diagnosis--she had stage four bowel cancer. Four years later and (thankfully) she is still here and raising awareness, shattering myths about bowel cancer and being a passionate advocate for bowel cancer awareness and an ambassador for the Jodi Lee Foundation. There Must be More is her personal story, detailing her diagnosis, treatment and the ups and downs experienced along the way.      This was a powerful read. Bowel cancer isn't always the easiest of things for people to talk about. It is also something that, here in Australia we often associate with aging--so much so that every Australian receives a bowel cancer test kit from the government on their fiftieth birthday. In reality it can happen to anyone, and Kellie Finlayson has played a huge role in creating that awareness in me, and, I suspect people like me. However, There Must Be More is not only a book about raising awareness. It is a...

Beautiful World, Where Are You, the third offering from Booker Prize long-listed author Sally Rooney has one failing. It isn't very good. The novel tells the story of four very different thirty-somethings living in Ireland, Alice, an internationally renowned author who suffered a nervous breakdown after the publication of one of her novels, Alice's best friend Eileen who lives in Dublin, is equally as miserable as her best friend and can't admit that she's in love with Simon, a devout Catholic with whom has she as friends with benefits relationship, and Felix, an angry creep that Alice met on Tinder. And so the novel goes from there with each of the characters being miserable and slowly trying to work through their various communication issues and quarter life crises.  Unfortunately, Rooney works so hard on trying to create mystery and well-crafted prose at the expense of her characters and, dare I say it, a plot. The novel starts slowly, improves after the first seven...

There is something delightful about the Dinosaur Couch comics that seem to pop up on my social media feeds every now and again. The combination of the clean lines, musings on life and well ... dinosaurs, just seem to make it a hit. Worked on by a team--James Stewart comes up with the words and plot and K Romey does the illustrations, the whole thing has a very gentle feel. When I discovered that an entire collection of these cute comics was available, I just had to find a copy.  And it doesn't disappoint. Divided into seven different sections, the comics talk about various parts of life, from relationships to happiness to feeling anxious and overthinking. I love the simplicity and the way it breaks it all down, leaving any reader who might be struggling with an issue (or who has struggled in the past,) feeling seen. I found this one more enjoyable when I read just one or two comics at a time, rather than binging on them. Recommended. 

Ash London's debut novel is a fun, frothy and upbeat glimpse into the cutthroat Australian media landscape. Leveraging on her personal experiences as a top rating radio host in Australia and New Zealand, Ash London tells the story of radio superstar Alex York, who goes from being unemployed, broke and living in her auntie's spare bedroom to hosting a top rating breakfast show in Sydney. It all sounds to good to be true, but for Alex, fame also comes with a condescending CEO, a rival, but less talented host who is convinced that the job should be his (and he'll do anything to steal it,) and some romantic misunderstandings with the incredibly attractive executive producer of her show. This one is a fun and very light escapist read. Alex makes for an interesting lead--she's very extroverted, flies by the seat of her pants and spends her money quite impulsively, yet we also see that she truly loves her job and takes it very seriously. I loved the scenes where she stood up t...