Kathryn's Inbox

It is no accident that Rebecca Perry's debut novel May We Feed The King has been longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize.* The novel is a well written account of a reluctant medieval king, and of a curator who, some many years later is tasked with recreating parts of his palace for an anniversary display. The novel opens with the curator, who, though it is not deeply touched upon (the reader gets just enough to be empathetic,) has some troubles in her personal life. As a consequence, she is burying herself in her work, doing deep research, which leads to the bulk of the story, her speculations of who this king could have been. The third son, it was never expected that he would rule and, it would seem, he does not really want to. There are people plotting against him and all kinds of rumours until he and the queen find freedom in an unexpected way ... And that's really it. The real treat of the novel for me is the way that it touches upon the human condition and human nature. It h...

There is no stopping the almighty BSC Graphix series. What started as a four book project in 2006 adapting four popular Baby-Sitters Club books as graphic novels now has nineteen volumes in the series and there is no sign of it slowing down yet.  Dawn On the Coast is the most recent addition to the series and only the second adaption to feature Dawn as the main protagonist. (Why The Ghost at Dawn's House was skipped, I'll never know.) In this one, it is spring break and Dawn is off to visit her dad and her brother Jeff in California. (Now here is another point. Jeff's departure for California was depicted in book fifteen in the original series, which was skipped in the graphics.) Anyway, as Dawn returns to California she soon discovers just how much she has missed her Dad and Jeff, and Sunny, her California bestie who has started her own, laid back version of the Baby-Sitters Club. (Sidenote: Sunny and Maggie later become key characters in the long-forgotten California Di...

I have mixed feelings about Katie Kitmura's Booker Prize shortlisted novel, but I also suspect that this is what the author intended. The author's talent lies in the way she sets the scene for one story, that of a middle aged woman who meets a young man in a Manhattan, and then, in each chapter, changes things over and over again. Who are these two people to each others? Lovers caught in an uncomfortable encounter? A mother and the son she gave up for adoption? A mother and the son she cast out? Two actors playing a part? A shyster and a bored middle aged couple who were sucked in? The possibilities are endless and each chapter changes things and challenges the readers perceptions. There are no clear answers. Ultimately, I feel that the story and the relationship the characters have with one another what each individual reader will see and will want it to be. It could be easy to explain it all using one bit of evidence or another from the narrative, but I also suspect that may ...

There is something quite lovely about a fantasy novel featuring Barbie. Although this one is marketed as young adult and a coming of age novel, the novel is very innocent, and perfect for readers who are just beginning to transition from middle grade but who may not yet be ready just yet for some of the darker parts of YA fantasy. Also, it makes for near perfect escapism for anyone who has fond memories of Barbie. In the novel, Barbie has grown up in a boarding school in Heartland, a mythical land where there is lots of pink, everything is perfect and she, along with her classmates studies hard. Barbie adores her guardian Robin, the best friend of her mother who died when she was just a baby. She is also looking forward to graduation, where mythical beings, known as fates, will decide on her future career.  Then the unthinkable happens. Barbie is the first student from the academy not to have a fate. Something is not right, and against the wishes of her guardian she embarks on a da...

South Austrailan author Vikki Wakefield takes a gritty look at the cycle of poverty in This Is How We Change the Ending.  How people get stuck there ... and what it takes to break free. Nate McKee is a high schooler living with his dad in a Housing Trust flat in a fictional South Australian town. He shares a room with his half brothers, three year old twins, because his dad is currently using his bedroom for a hydro crop that will (supposedly) make them rich. The only support Nate has is from his stepmum Nance, who is just eight years older than him and has her own struggles with poverty, an abusive husband and the twins, one of whom has additional needs and the other who is already showing signs of turning out like his dad. His best mate is becoming a criminal. Nate's only solace is his notebook, where he records his feelings and the local youth centre, but after a violent incident, it appears that the centre will be closed. Then a local graffiti artist finds Nate's notebook a...

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Rachel Cusk's latest novel, Life of M.  Much of this controversy has been over questions over whether the novel is fiction or auto-fiction, the latter of which Cusk is quite skilled at. If it is the latter is the titular actress, known as M in the novel, based heavily upon Natalie Portman, with whom Cusk is acquainted with in Paris? And if so, is it wise for anyone to have created such an unflattering portrait? Full disclosure, I do not know. The end of the novel certainly throws out some interesting clues, ones that are best left for the reader to discover for themselves. Ultimately, though, I found the book was more enjoyable when I did not focus to heavily on what has been said in the media. Life of M tells of the observations of an unnamed author, currently based in Paris with their husband, who is tasked with following M, a Hollywood actress who has been famous since childhood, so that they may write a book about it. Intertwined...

On the evening of tenth of May 1972 Dr George Duncan, a lecturer at the University of Adelaide, was thrown from a footbridge into the River Torrens where he tragically drowned. He had lived in Adelaide for just six weeks. His alleged murderers were all police officers, from the Vice Squad and it was believed that Dr Duncan had been targeted because of his sexuality. Though no one would ever be charged with his murder, it led to widespread reforms across South Australia, which became the first state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. In The Death of Dr Duncan author Tim Reeves takes an in-depth look at this tragic, totally preventable death, how it led to a shift in public attitudes and legal reforms and the way the death was investigated, which never led to a criminal conviction.  The Duncan case is absolutely shocking and rightly so. A man targeted because of his sexuality and murdered, allegedly by the very people who were supposed to protect the community. Then we hav...

Brooke is an absolute master of organisation. She knows how to get things done and how to organise everything. However, when she moves to Melbourne to start uni and into a run down student share house, things start to go awry. First she discovers a mouse. Then their third housemate arrives. Jesse, who just happens to be her mortal enemy from high school. He's the guy who broke her fourteen-year-old heart when he ditched her so that he could get in good with the popular crowd. Brooke has never, ever let him forget it. She isn't about to forget it now. They might be sharing a house, but they are definitely, definitely not friends. And Brooke is definitely not going to talk to him at all, and create any further unnecessary drama.  I loved the concept of this one. Brooke is a strong willed and stubborn young woman who has compelling reasons for her (sometimes) overbearing and off-putting behaviour. Jesse also has his reasons for his past behaviour. While they may not be perfect, it...

A little while back, I read and reviewed Game Changer the first novel in Rachel Reid's massively popular and bestselling Heated Rivalry series. Recently developed into a television series for HBO Max, the novels in the series tells the stories of male ice hockey players who experience same sex attraction and their romantic lives. While the majority of the novels and bulk of the television series focuses on a secret relationship between two players from rival teams, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov,  Game Changer is the story of hockey player Scott Hunter who encounters university graduate Kip Grady who is underemployed and working at a smoothie bar. What starts as a pregame ritual of drinking smoothies for Scott soon develops into secret romance between the pair, eventually culminating in Scott being the first hockey player in his league to be an openly gay man. And thus setting up the rest of the series as other romances in the hockey world begin to blossom. It's a great pre...

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...

Award winning children's author Danielle Binks has penned a thought provoking novel for children about two children and their neighbour who are all going through, well, rather a lot. Leo's life has been a bit rough of late. He's almost finished year six at the local primary school. He's been abandoned by his childhood best friend Tash in favour of the cool kids, his dad has gone away to the other side of Australia for a while to get help with his gambling addiction and now, Leo has won a scholarship to a fancy private school in Melbourne that he is not feeling so sure about. Meanwhile, Tash, who has survived an aggressive form of childhood cancer, has made a sudden reappearance in his life. She wants Leo's help in delivering a letter to their eccentric neighbour from the other side of the creek. As the letters keep appearing, Leo finds himself growing closer to Tash and discovering the grim reality of the letters and the many cruel games that a property developer is...

Australian author Lily Crozier's debut is a pleasing gothic romance and retelling of Beauty and the Beast ... but with vampires. Clara Wagner has grown up in a town plagued by poverty and a prince who appears to be using his people to satisfy his desire for blood. Now, Prince Raleigh has decided that it is time that he married and someone join him in the castle. And that someone just happens to be Clara. In spite of the fact that she is very much human and betrothed to a man she loves? Or is she? As Clara finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into the castle and the life of Prince Raleigh she soon discovers that things are not what they seem and the real enemy may be someone else indeed ... Vow of Eternal Night was an enjoyable, satisfying read that ticks all the right boxes for a gothic romance. One thing I really appreciated was that Clara in her mid-twenties and had already had adult relationships, rather than being portrayed as a young fair virgin on the cusp of her coming-of...

Picking up where Binding 13 left off, the second novel in the Boys of Tommen series starts on a dramatic note, with Shannon copping a near fatal beating from her abusive, alcoholic father. From there, the reader witnesses a rollercoaster ride of events, melodrama and even forbidden romance as Shannon's long-lost brother Darren swoops in to care for his injured sister and vows to do everything to keep Shannon and her boyfriend Johnny apart. Johnny has his own problems due to his rugby injuries and fears that his career may be in jeopardy. Meanwhile, no one knows where Shannon's dad is, but, of course, he will be back one last time to cause utter chaos and devastation ... This was a very dramatic read. The author clearly intended it to be a page turner, and to be fair, it really is in place. However, at 800 pages, it often felt overlong and many parts of the story, such as the number of times Shannon snuck off to see Johnny and the pair didn't really get up to all that much,...

May is desperately searching for ... something. Her mother has passed away, her father disappeared years ago. May and her brother were taken in by Aunty, but her brother leaves following a domestic violence incident and May soon finds herself looking for him. And for her dad. However, as she journeys through Australia she soon learns what will give her a much needed sense of belonging. This was a difficult book for me to read, mostly because it left me feeling a deep mix of sadness and anger. Presented as a series of linked short stories, we meet May Gibson. The daughter of a Wiradjuri mother and an absent white father, something about May's life feels doomed yet filled with strange little moments of hope. Most of the supporting characters feel underdeveloped, as did May at times. However, where the novel truely stands out is through its look at what it means to belong, and a connection to people and country. Recommended.

Adelaide author Allayne L Webster's latest novel is a moving coming-of-age tale about a teenage girl who is living in poverty. Things are not going well for Maisy Hayes, who turns fourteen in the early chapters of the novel. Her family, which includes her mum, older sister and younger half brother are doing it tough. Money is tight, their Housing Trust home is in a state of disrepair and older sister Luka has a serious heart problem and needs an operation. Then comes some surprising news. Maisy's dad, a wealthy lawyer who has all but abandoned his daughters, wants Maisy and Luka to stay with him in Melbourne during the school holidays. Luka is quick to realise that something is wrong with the whole set up, while the younger and more optimistic Maisy is about to learn some huge life lessons ... There were times when this novel absolutely broke my heart. The novel focuses on a number of issues,  including the daily realties of living in poverty in Australia, including a scene whe...