KJK Reads

Rating: 3.5 Themes: Non-Fiction, Humour Thoughts:  This book is an entertaining quick read, great as a palette cleanser between intense reads. It covers teachers from all over the world which makes me think maybe it’s the profession that drives them to such funny but extreme behaviours. I didn’t really understand the way in which they were broken into chapters as it all felt like it just flowed as one and the first few chapter titles were so broad. With the tales being a paragraph or 2 each we can pretty much stop wherever and know exactly where we are when we pick it up so they weren’t exactly necessary. The illustrations being just pencil drawings felt like they really fit, as if the students were doodling what they had experienced while in class. Favourite Quote:  “School: the best days of our lives! Or so we are always told. But ask anyone who's a few decades into their post-school life to name some outstanding memories of their formative years and they'll most likely have...

Rating: 2.5 Stars  Themes: Thriller, Quick Reads  Thoughts:  This is the first quick reads book that I have read and felt like it didn’t quite feel right. I read quick reads as a taster for new authors as well as whenever a story sounds interesting but I know the point is accessible stories for new and returning readers but this one felt more like the beginning of the authors full book rather than a story in it’s own right and we need to go buy/read the new book to be able to find out who actually did it which I’ve never felt before even with the books that are shortened versions of full length novels. We did find out why the kidnapping happened and the build up is great so I was looking forward to the explanations and while I did like the why it’s frustrating that the rest of the story is just missing. It’s a shame as the premise, writing and characters were all great, I just wish it was either a novel in its own right or penned as a prequel novella rather than a quick r...

Rating: 4 Stars  Themes: Quiz, Puzzles Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is awesome for a coffee lover (as a coffee lover). Some of the puzzles took a little more time to figure out than others but that was great coz depending on the day sometimes I only had time for a quick one. I also really liked having all those coffee facts and quotes sprinkled throughout the book and the illustrations that accompanied them were great. Favourite Quote: “Coffee is so complex that scientists haven’t been able to chemically analyze all the processes that take place during roasting.”

Rating: 2 Stars Themes: Fiction, Short Stories  Thoughts:  This was a quick read with many short stories fitted into only 108 pages. Some were quite interesting to me such as Teesside Tsunami and Ballad of the Oak but others didn’t really catch my attention. I liked the map at the beginning and especially the endnotes that separated the true history of Whitby and, as the author themselves says, the nonsense. Favourite Quote:  “The sea, like Whitby itself, is a very mysterious place.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel, History, Feminism  Thoughts:  The art in this book is soo well done. The majority of the illustrations are in blacks, whites and shades of grey which makes the ginger of Sally’s hair and the Suffragette colours really pop. The colour and artwork for the beginning of each part/chapter were also striking and gave a hint of what part of history we were getting into without giving too much away. In terms of the story I enjoyed looking at the suffragette movement from a bit more of an outsider perspective from that of Emily Davidson and the Pankursts that I’m used to reading from. I also appreciated the way in which Talbot handled the forcible feeding in the prisons as she managed to get across the horror and brutality of it without the images being too explicit, which is especially good considering the target age group for the book. Favourite Quote:  “Why should women go to Parliament Square and be battered about and insulted, when it pr...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel, Historical Thoughts:  I was a little conflicted with this book, it’s handy as a first touch point with the war in Syria and its history but there was something a little lacking. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the characters apart which was a problem when I couldn’t tell which army the character was fighting for until a few text bubbles in. I’m not sure if the art style did this intentionally but I noticed that the art style meant we couldn’t see the differences in skin tone which has been shown to make white people care more. It was good that the weapons used were broken down so to speak each time they were used with the country of origin and who it was supplied to being shown as it shows just how many external countries were meddling in the war on different sides. Overall though, I did get the feeling of hope despite the horrors through this book, especially with the way Yasmin kept having her Freedom Hospital sign put up regardless of wh...