KJK Reads

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction, Refugees Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a sweet but quite heartbreaking book from a more deep perspective. The illustrations are beautiful and Adnan is able to show us what they went through while having to flee their home and losing his father and sibling without being too intense so that it is suitable to explain the complex issue to younger readers. I appreciated the choose love page at the end to teach us as adults the more complex natures and showing an organisation that helps if we want to do something to help other children like Adnan. Favourite Quote: "Sometimes, things get thrown away when they have no purpose. But we found a new home a new purpose."

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Psychological Fiction, Christmas, Domestic Fiction  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book was nothing like I expected. Looking at the cover I expected a romance book but this was more psychological fiction with romantic elements threaded throughout. The story of the Sea Stars parade was interesting but I think the book seemed to try to handle more concepts than it had the pages for with the parade, the play, the family elements and the social justice issues it felt like some weren’t able to be fully realised.  Favourite Quote: "Sometimes Christmas just feels like extra work but then something happens, it's like you flipped a switch, and everything is suddenly worth it. Beautiful, even if yesterday it was just plain old everyday life."

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Addiction, Psychology  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book not just for addicts trying to establish and maintain their sobriety but also psychologists, counsellors and the people working with them. It approaches the experience of addiction from the perspective of going to war and may help those who can’t get along with the 12 steps, contingency management or other forms of therapy traditionally used. It’s also helpful to have Edward detail his own experiences and approaches throughout so it feels less clinical and shows he does know what he’s talking about when he mentions the difficulties so it comes across less patronising than some self-help addiction books. Favourite Quote: "It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Win or lose, if we are still alive, we must decide to be different today and then make the correct choices today, because friends, ...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Feminism, Social Justice, Essays  Thoughts: This is a must read book. It tackles the #MeToo events from many different previous experiences and gives a broad sense of the issues faced by us women in daily life. There are also some written by men (and a woman) discussing men’s approach and reactions to #MeToo declarations and the impacts it can have on the individual and society as a whole. It’s such an important thing to read for everyone to get a broader sense of the issue rather than just our own personal views/experiences. Favourite Quote: "There’s no need to document any further the existence of sexism and male privilege in our lives. It’s pervasive. What we need now is to blow out the remaining parts of the systems that perpetuate it."

Rating:  4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, History, World War Two Thoughts: This was a really informative short book about a pacific WW2 battle that I didn’t know much about before hand. It was really insightful to read the bits about the journalist and its impact on the soldiers as well as the facts on daily battles and background on the battle.  Favourite Quote: "Okinawa was enough to make anyone feel his own mortality."

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Childrens Fiction, Empowerment Thoughts: This is an amazing book for children, and something I wish I had growing up. The illustrations are beautiful and the message is so important for all young girls to learn as young as possible by another little girl like themselves. I also appreciate the fact that there is an Authentically Arron book to help get the same message across to young boys seeing a character like them. Favourite Quote: "This book is dedicated to anyone who dares to live life authentically. Congratulations on knowing who you are and embracing who you were created to be! Keep being you and continue walking in your truth!"

Rating: 2 Stars  Themes: Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Christmas Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was a mixed bag for me. There were one or two good stories but most of them felt quite disjointed with the constant time jumping. A couple of the stories even didn’t feel finished (and not the one with a follow up book linked at the end) and some had no christmassy content to them (like the bell ringer) despite the book being themed as christmas. Favourite Quote: "We each are given the life we're given. That's what we get. No more, no less. And sure, people complain about their lots in their lives all the time. It's a natural part of being human."

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Disability Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Where was this book when I was first sick. Seriously, this book is amazing and answered so many of the questions I had when I first got sick before I was diagnosed and found the #NEISvois (which is also suggested as a community for support in the book). The journal prompts were great and I will definitely be coming back to them again in the future. I loved that it also mentioned things such as medical gaslighting and approaches to mobility aids and the stigma which I haven’t seen in disability books I’ve read before and really appreciated hearing about it from other people. I also appreciated that Pippa gave her own experiences after every chapter/section she had explained to see other experiences parallel or contrasting to my own. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Fake Dating, Hockey Romance, Contemporary Fiction Thoughts: I didn’t quite know what to expect going into this book, I have read an Elle Kennedy before but I know she writes a broad variety of types. First of all, there were no trigger warnings in my copy of this book but I believe there should have been with such sensitive topics being handled that could really harm some readers. However, I did really enjoy seeing Hannah and Garrett getting closer and trusting each other more and their bickering and banter was great to read. Although Garrett did have a few moments where he centralised Hannah’s trauma on him and his emotions and not her when it was her own experience. I was also really glad that Phil got what he deserved in the epilogue. Favourite Quote: "I'm single because I haven't found anyone I connect with, not because I'm anti-relationship. It's nice having someone to spend time with. You know, talking, cuddling, all that mush...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, LGBTQ+ Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book all round. The villains are from mythology, pop culture and real history so there’s a wide variety of individuals represented. The subtitle of summaries for the queer elements was a great way to really hammer home the queer issues. There’s research and references used to back up many claims made throughout and the images are absolutely beautiful. 

Rating:  3.5 Stars Themes: Romance, Christmas, Single Father, Clean Romance, Magical Realism Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.  This was such a cute read. Sadie and Martin’s romance blossomed slowly and realistically for me and I absolutely loved Nora and the way she helped steer them right whenever they (mainly her dad) went a little weird. I also liked the magical element especially with the way the Kringle’s worked things.  Favourite Quote: "Once you experience some Christmas magic, you'll forget all about the cold."

Rating: 3.5 Stars Themes:  Non-Fiction, Psychology, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great book to help increase productivity through proven techniques. I appreciated the free digital copy being available at the beginning since it made it easier for me to follow along with the activities. However, the font on the subtitles and chapter titles was difficult to read at times especially with the chapter title having colour contrast in the mix too which can be impossible for some people to read. 

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction,  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I struggled a little with this book although content wise it should be right up my street. The book introduces us to the statistics of the importance of active fathers and then goes into a part memoir, discussing James’ experiences with his father growing up and what lessons he took away from it. However, since this book is advertised for parents and Pierce does mention at least once that he now has his own kids, I was disappointed that he didn’t mention the lessons more in the context of being a parent in those situations too and how to better handle them from the parental view rather than the child with hindsight.