KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Psychology, Addiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I loved the heartfelt dedication. This book approaches addiction and recovery in a compassionate and non-judgemental way and love that it acknowledges that addiction is a disease/illness as not enough understand this, and there’s even a paragraph for those who don’t understand it. There’s lots on overall recovery and support too and a whole chapter on making amends and one on healing and acceptance which makes it a great guide for anyone in recovery. The balance between anecdotes and facts is well done. Finally, the note from all four children at the end is touching.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Self-Help, Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. As an avid reader I liked the dedication. This guide covers lots of topics from happiness from calmness and courage to romance and relationships. The anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter help readers feel less alone, especially with Daisy’s age of anxiety diagnosis being so close to my own. There are great bits of advice throughout the book such as the cures for comparison anxiety and writing & reading building anxiety before the book recommendations. I’ve found many books to try in the future although my TBR probably didn’t appreciate it. I liked the reading around the world chapter especially as I’m working on further diversifying my shelves. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I love the dedication and that there is a book dedicated to unlearning patriarchal or toxic masculinity by a man to support other men. The pause and reflect bits are really impactful. Overall, the book is broken down well and the references at the end of each chapter are helpful. The devotional sections are helpful for those who are religious and it can help the book to tackle masculinity in more than one group of people.  Favourite Quote: “From the moment our mothers find out our sex in the womb, a story is created about who we are and who we will be.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a helpful book to evaluate my own maturity and find areas that I can work on for my own personal development. It handles the topic in a non-shaming and non-judgemental manner, even if the score found out you’re emotionally “immature”. It’s interesting to have a question then the facts on the topic and then another question.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Japan, Self-Help, Mental Health  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I appreciated the note on the use of Japanese at the beginning as someone new to Japanese language but interested in Kokoro and having the three sections inspired by the three sacred mountains was interesting. There is a good amount of anecdotes and statistics that compliment each other well throughout the book. The Kokoro Wisdom at the end of each chapter was a sweet touch and the illustrations on the chapter pages are beautiful. I found the Kokoro work at the end of each chapter, liked the anatomy of the Kokoro at the end of the book and appreciated the provision of so many resources at the end.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I found that having a  “how to use your workbook” as well as an “Orientation and key concepts” was great for making sure readers go into this book prepared. It explains the psychology terms well in the orientation such as a window of tolerance and I liked setting intentions at the beginning. The book is broken up well with the sections and chapters and has pretty illustrations too. The book is full of great exercises with something for everyone and many exercises can be useful for those who don’t have DID as well. The mandalas at the end of each chapter are a nice touch and can be used to colour in for a little decompression activity at the end of some potentially difficult work.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Christmas Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great and fun book that covers lots of countries from around the world with a funny dedication. The quiz time at the end of each country is fun and loved the colouring sheet at the end of each country, especially the paragraph with the story behind it too. I appreciated the freebies and thing the Certificate of Twisted Achievement is a great touch for kids.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Mental Health, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great and positive self-help guide. I love the idea of becoming a superhero through self-improvement and the quotes provided with the personal notes pages are a nice touch. The chapters are broken down into sections that make it much more easily digestible and the book isn’t overly religious despite the few bible verses dotted through the book which makes it accessible to christians and atheists/agnostics alike.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a lovely and broad poetry book covering a multitude of topics from childhood to motherhood, grief to growth. The illustrations are simple and pretty, placed through the book sparring but compliment the poems well, especially the flower growing from concrete. Favourite Quote: I knew it was just an impossible hot-pink dream. The 39-18-33 plastic doll in my small hands didn't live in my reality, There were no blonde blue-eyed, perfect girls in my vanity mirror There were no Kens walking out of a magazine to save a brown girl like me. The one thing we did have in common was that our feet weren't made to fully touch the ground. We were both dream girls who weren't allowed the privilege of wholly living

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Self-Help, Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great collection with different people/points included and covers quite a broad range of subjects such as nourishing the body and mind, indigenous wisdom, and minding emotions. I liked the references being provided at the end of each chapter. Overall I found this is a helpful guide to parents who want to help and support their children that could possibly have practical applications in schools too. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Addiction, Self-Help, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. The dedication that starts the book is beautiful and overall the book is non-judgemental and full of compassion. I appreciated Susan’s story at the beginning that shows she has a deeper understanding of this than just academic learning and it was great hearing these things coming from a teen counsellor. I think having a chapter explaining the adolescent brain is great as there’s so many differences developmentally than an adult brain, especially in relation to addiction. The stories/bits teens experiences were great to help people feel less alone and it’s good that it covered concurrent disorders and family connection too. I liked the exercises at the end of each chapter and found the quick review at the end of each chapter helpful. Favourite Quote: “Addictive behaviours medicate a person’s trauma, and the reality is that ...

Rating:  3 Stars Themes: Self-Help, Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I think that having the book split with the information in part 1 and then all the worksheets in part 2 is a great way to lay out a playbook like this. There’s also helpful exercises in the information sheet where appropriate. I think that the highlighted text font that was used for emphasis was pretty but it may make it inaccessible for screen readers. I liked the breakdown of the different types of procrastination and found it was approached in a non-judgemental way. I also liked the provision of mental health resources at the end. 

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. There are some great exercises that are clearly marked which are great to help apply the learning to my own experiences and challenge my own shame. It covers a lot of topics relating to shame and is helpful to combat personal experiences of shame and start improving our self-love and self-esteem. The author refers to having personal experience which helps readers feel less alone and the chapters are broken up in an easily digestible way.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Biology, History Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is the longest “short” guide I’ve read so far but that’s not a bad thing as it means the book is a complete and detailed guide despite being on a difficult theory and its often horrific historical applications. I liked that the parts were split with the years included so we could see how the theory has developed over time and the last part was great to highlight that eugenics is not history despite the beliefs of some people. Overall, this is a great educational guide to the theory of eugenics. 

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. The book is surprisingly broad with the topics it covers from childhood and relationships to democracy, gut instinct and death. Having the exercises in orange and the whole page orange when possible helps break up the text and workbook in a unique way making it very distinct. Overall, this is a great workbook to work through if you aim to improve your self-confidence. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Cookbook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. The photographs in this book, on the scenery, food and people, are beautiful. It shows a great blending of the two cultures and is split up in a great way with breakfast, light meals, main courses and desserts all having their own chapter. The recipes themselves are easy enough to follow as well. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is  a great guide for self-help and could be especially useful while on a professional waitlist. The book is broken down well with the chapters and titles within and is full of helpful exercises throughout. The book was slightly jargonny but McConnell works well to define and explain it to us. However, I did find the resources section self-promotional.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book starts with a touching dedication and addresses an impact of COVID I hadn’t previously thought of, coming from a psychology background. It’s easy to navigate and it was great to hear the different people’s views and experiences. I appreciated that there was a reference list and bibliography provided and the index itself is useful. Finally, the appendix providing notes on methodology is great for non-academics or those less academically inclined as it helps contextualise the research done. 

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Thriller, Mystery Thoughts: This is a good little murder mystery that keeps you guessing. It isn’t overly christmassy, with the main part of Christmas being that the passengers are trying to get to Fort William for christmas which isn’t bad but if you’re after a full on christmas thriller this may not be the book for you. I liked that there was a brief mention of the murders at Endgame House the year before to let me know it’s all taking place in the same universe and found it funny that one of the characters steps aboard a sleeper train reading Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express before any murders actually happen in the book. It does take kind of a long time for the murder to start despite it being in the title. The characters were all complex with their own secrets being kept from the group and the themes of abuse and control as well as the pregnancy and birth bits were well thought out. I liked that Benedict included the quiz and Roz’s recipe for tablet ...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, New Adult Thoughts: This was an interesting read for me, it took quite a while for me to get through it due to a reading slump but anytime I managed to pick it up I just had to read on so there was no way I’d DNF it. I thought it was really interesting to see Soroya and her mother’s stories in parallel, especially seeing how the parents changed throughout events in their life that led them to be the parents they were in Soroya’s experiences. The book is full of flawed characters that make them feel more human and relatable and there’s a great combination of romance, historical fiction and psychological fiction. Favourite Quote: His words were only semi-comforting. He was missing the point, focusing on her dad’s rage as though it was a singular problem, not an issue a lot of British Muslim girls faced to some degree. It wasn’t Hossein Nazari that was crazy, it was the attitude of many men in her culture, the way they saw their daugh...

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. There are many deep and difficult topics covered in a short period of time making it brief but impactful. There were a lot of beautiful poems present and many really make you think such as A Period of Ignorance and When I Still Soldiered. It was surprisingly religious but still impactful regardless of belief. Favourite Quote: The desert sun vanished behind the Ghar. We sat near each other, eyes trained scanning- Left to right, right to left... over our arcs; Neither of US spoke, both our fingers ready on the trigger- beyond sight a mortar detonated where aimed. One of theirs. On target, or not; We couldn't tell. Anxious for morning, The rising sun, the Arabic prayer.

Rating:  4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I loved the dedication as a chronic pain patient myself and appreciated that she states that even though opioids didn’t help her research shoes they can be helpful to some chronic pain patients as too many demonise opioids due to prejudice or because of their own biassed experiences and I know how essential they can be in getting some pain patients out of bed at all. I liked the provision of so many pain descriptors as sometimes the correct term can be difficult to find and found the case studies on specific conditions good, even though she didn’t cover my condition specifically it covered some conditions similar and ones I know people with. I liked the ‘I remember’ at the end of each chapter to reinforce important messages such as “doctors can’t feel your pain”. Finally, I appreciated the additional resources at the end as they’re very helpful. ...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Memoir, Disability Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was a difficult but hopeful read at this point in my journey but is really helpful while I am on the waitlist for counselling. It was interesting to hear Lucy talk about grieving and the stages of grief as someone who recently found out I didn’t properly grieve my own diagnosis and that is still causing problems almost 5 years after. I did have to praise a few times throughout the book due to my own journey making parts painful, especially around romantic relationships but it was important to hear nonetheless. I found that there were some great exercises and listening to it as a self-narrated audiobook was amazing, getting to hear her words in her own voice. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is very helpful for the increased stressors of the modern world while connecting us to older spiritual practices and communities. I found the bits of poetry beautiful and the illustrations were helpful additions to the text. 

Rating:  4 Stars Themes: Children's Non-Fiction  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great accompaniment to the fiction book that I previously enjoyed. It’s great that the book is split up into eras and movements making it easier to contextualise the individuals stories. It was great to learn more about some of those in the original story and I learnt something new from it too even as an adult. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes:  Cookbook, Childrens Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is full of easy to follow recipes for all ages and abilities. It’s colourful and attractive to kids and is full of appetising pictures of the foods. There are some cute illustrations of the Squishmallows throughout such as the snowglobe that I enjoyed. I liked that a few drinks were included and appreciated the provision of conversions at the back as it makes baking so much easier.

Rating:  4 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is full of great illustrations and I love the lion with his teddies. The descriptions of fear are great and it’s a good way to show children what it may feel like while staying fun and child friendly. I liked that the book teaches box breathing as it is something I myself could have benefited from learning younger and the guide to parents and caregivers at the end is a great addition. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Non-Fiction Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great short book to teach emotions to young children. I think having a when do you feel (emotion) combined with an illustration of the bunny feeling are good ways to help children identify their own feelings and like having the colour matching the emotion to make navigating the book alone easier for kids. Also the four exercises at the end of the book are great. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Cookbook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I appreciate the Jews, Jewish Food and the Global Jewish Kitchen section as I love to learn and liked there being a section just for fundamentals such as Matzo balls, chicken broth, Tahini dressing. It’s great that the recipes were split by season and covered the special days in that season at the beginning of the chapter with appetising photos included. I found the recipes easy to follow and having the make it Shabbat bit in each recipe is great as I can sometimes struggle to think of an appropriate side to dishes. Finally, as a Brit I loved the measurements conversion page as it makes the cooking experience easier.