Kathryn's Inbox

Ahh, Jessica Wakefield is up to no good again. Sneaking Out  the fifth volume in the Sweet Valley Twins graphic novel series adapts another classic story from the original series. This is the one where Johnny Buck comes to town. And super-fan Jessica Wakefield, who caught Johnny Buck's hat when he tossed it into the crowd at a film premiere, is desperate to go. After all, Jessica knows that Johnny meant for her to catch that hat, and that if she takes it to the concert he is sure to recognise her in the crowd. He'll just have to invite her backstage. But for now, there are just a few tiny obstacles in the way. Jessica's parents have forbidden her and twin sister Elizabeth to attend the concert as they feel the twins are too young. Second, Jessica cannot afford a ticket. With some characteristic Jessica Wakefield style scheming she comes up with solutions to both problems. She will sleep over at her friend Lila's house. And she will take on a job dog sitting, cash paid u...

Readers are in for a treat with Guards! Guards!  Terry Pratchett's eighth Discworld novel and the first City Watch novel. It is the story of Captain Sam Vimes, an alcoholic and head of the somewhat complacent City Watch who finds himself falling for wealthy dragon breeder Lady Ramkin. It is also the story of Carrot, an orphan raised by dwarves who finds himself as the newest--and the most honest and earnest--member of the City Watch. It is also the story of how a secret brotherhood summons a dragon to terrorise Ankh-Morpork and how Vimes, Lady Ramkin, Carrot and Unseen University's Librarian work to restore law and order, with some very amusing results. Guards! Guards! is a fun read from start to finish. As always I enjoyed Terry Pratchett's unique yet incredibly accurate insights into human nature. There were a few moments when I found myself laughing out loud (a bit awkward when I was reading outdoors) and in particular I enjoyed the resolution to the dragon problem. As ...

Journalist and author Rachel Held Evans was raised by her religious parents in an evangelical church. In Searching For Sunday she details her thorny relationship with the church, in particular moments of doubt, a desire to find a new church that fits better with her spiritual beliefs and the trappings of trying to do this when she was becoming an increasingly famous Christian writer and blogger.  Searching For Sunday is a book of faith, doubt and the path the author takes to rediscover her faith. Rachel Held Evans raises questions of faith and the role of the church in the early 21st century. There are no easy answers, of course, but the author remains open as she shares her personal and spiritual journey.  Overall, this is an interesting read, one that anyone who has left the church will be able to identify with. (Especially in the freedoms of being able to do whatever one wishes on Sunday morning. Or maybe that's just me.) I found her voice to be honest and authentic, a rari...

Love her or hate her, there is no denying that Colleen Hoover is a bestselling author. She has a solid--and extremely loyal--fanbase. She has seen one of her novels made into a film, caused a stir with a colouring book that got cancelled, copped loads of criticism and most of her publicity has been born through her books going viral on social media, first with her (then) self-published first novel Slammed and then again several years later when her novel  It Ends With Us became the first novel to go viral on TikTok, four years after it was first published and enjoyed moderate success. While most of her novels can be broadly considered romance, Verity , self-published in 2018 was a sincere attempt at combining her light, breezy writing style with a darker storyline and a surprise twist at the end. The result is, well ... Verity  tells the story of Lowen Ashleigh, a reclusive writer in her early thirties who is hired as a ghostwriter to complete a series of novels by bestselli...

Aussie author Jodi McAlister's latest romantic offering starts strong, with a fast paced--and hilarious--recap of two academic rivals and complete opposites, wealthy Jonah from a competitive academic family and Sadie, who has fought against every possible odd to gain a PhD. As Jonah recaps the seven times they managed a truce, the reader just knows they might make a perfect couple. If only they could let go of their egos, if their families would stop interfering and if employment in the academic world was not quite so fierce. Then, in the midst of it all, the rare perfect employment opportunity comes along. They both have very compelling reasons for wanting it--and Sadie soon works out a way that both can have it. Unfortunately it involves this unlikely pair of enemies getting married. This comes with all kinds of problems. Their families each oppose it, if the university finds out theirs is a fake marriage they'll likely be thrown out and worse still ... Sadie and Jonah are fa...

I was born with an eccentric heart ... Bono's memoir begins with a quote that is both literal truth and near perfect metaphor for the much loved musician, activist and now, author. Shaped around forty different U2 songs, Surrender is Bono telling his life story. Most U2 fans will know parts of the story already, particularly the parts about the band formed when the members met at high school, the same place where Bono met his wife Ali. Just as many will know that some of these stories were already shared in by in Bono on Bono by Michka Assayas and in U2 by U2. However, what makes this book stand out is the willingness of the author to be vulnerable and what he shares with the reader. I read this one slowly, over the course of about three and a half weeks, which I soon discovered was the perfect way to take in the stories and meant that I had time to listen to my not-exactly-small collection of U2 albums along the way and enjoy the songs I'd just read about. For me, the most i...

When much loved author John Green visited Serra Leone with his wife Sarah to do some research into maternal and neonatal healthcare systems (the country has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world,) he was not expecting to become friends with Henry, a young man with the body of a boy, who was fighting tuberculosis. The meeting prompted Green to investigate further into the treatment and outcomes for TB patients in Serra Leone. What he found would rightly shock many people--that tuberculosis, which has been easily diagnosable and curable since the 1950s, is still one of the deadliest diseases in the world due to the medical inequalities that exist across the globe. In short, over a million people each year die of tuberculosis based on where they live and the medical treatment available. Angry yet? I know I am.  John Green has used his anger to create this book. He examines the history of tuberculosis, the myths and stigma that surrounds the disease, the role of drug c...