KJK Reads

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Short Story, Romance Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Another sweet installment to Mistletoe. I loved Nora being included again and it’s sweet that she helps out in Sadie’s shop when she’s needed. Jack and Rosie’s descriptive joy of winter nearly made me fall in love with winter too (despite the stressors it puts on my body) and it's interesting to see a valentines installment to the christmas town and it was cool to hear how they decorated the tree for valentines day, definitely looking forward to hear of more decorations for different holidays in the future. This was a descriptive story with a nosey journalist who needs dealing with and then love happens naturally along the way which I liked as it gave it a real life feel.  Favourite Quote: “Winter is often perceived as the harshest of seasons, but I find it holds within it an unmatched beauty. And not merely in its visual splendor but in the e...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Romance, Small Town Romance, Short Story Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is book 3 in the Kringle Cousin Romance series but like the others it can be read as a standalone, I kinda did a bit of both having read the first book but missed the second. Although after remembering how great the residents of Mistletoe are. The romance is between two older characters and I liked that they were both bereaved instead of just one as they could connect on a deeper level which we see happen on a few occasions. I loved seeing Nora and her cheeky personality again and it was great to see the characters from the other books being included, but not in a way that stopped me understanding the story despite missing Jack’s story. It was also interesting to see one of the original mean characters developing. Overall this is a sweet short romance book that isn’t too intensely christmassy with a fun dance competition e...

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is a poetry collection that is full of feeling with some really emotive poems such as I learned how to love from Heroin, Veteran of the Drug Wars and Dear God, Mum & dad I hope you're proud. I loved the touching dedication and liked the way some of the titles followed on from the last one making it almost story like for a few pages (such as I’d be lying if I didn’t say, Something has to give, But it doesn’t, It couldn’t, But it does, & it did, & it will). Overall I think this book gets the reality of addiction across in a subtle and sweet way while not shying away from the harsh realities.  Favourite Quote: "I feel like I'm doing too much & not enough in the same breath sometimes I forget; I used to struggle just to breathe"

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Short Story, Romance, Mute MC Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a cute short love story, the supernatural element was also interesting. I loved the inclusion of a mute female main character who was still a well rounded character and not just there as a single trait.  Favourrite Quote: “I'd become lost. Not in the sense of being unable to find my way, but lost in the beauty of the holidays.”

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Poetry, Palestine Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is an important read for everyone to understand the lesser publicised side of the current war in the Middle East. This book is full of beautiful and thought provoking, at times heartbreaking poems some of which really struck me such as Gaza Notebook, A Blank Postcard, 1948, and The Ball and the Bombs. Favourite Quote: “I wish there were no planes at all. I wish there were no war. I wish we never had to wish.”

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction, Historical Fiction  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a beautiful age-appropriate tribute to Sophie and the White Rose. I wish there was a book like this around when I was younger as someone who loved reading and history but never got to see strong girls like me in the books available to me. The cartoon map was great to help with my terrible geographical skills and the other graphics accompanied the story perfectly. I like direct quotes from real letters/leaflets in italics so we can see the actual words of those we’re reading about and especially liked the bit about after her death. Favourite Quote: “He who does not act does not exist, wrote the philosopher Gottfried Leibniz -and although Sophie cruelly lost her life when she was so young, she exists in our minds for ever through acting as she did.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a cute collection of poems covering the stages of ageing (or growing up) from childhood to adulthood with relationships, and families in between. It was interesting and somewhat thought provoking to read the poem on names as I’ve never thought of it that way before. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Self-Help, Non-Fiction, Psychology Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Firstly, I loved the dedication to the clients. This book explains imposter syndrome and the scale it can be experienced on well. There are great exercises throughout, especially the chapter on tapping and the diaphragmatic breathing taught in the breathing technique. I liked that there was a whole chapter on social medias as they can be so detrimental for comparing ourselves to others and feeding imposter syndrome.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Autism, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book provided some advice to help me with my own sensory issues as well as the parents and children it is marketed towards. There is a great mix of facts and stories both with her autistic kid and others she knows and the stories are great for helping likely already stressed parents feel less alone in helping their children. I liked the fact the book broke down the different types of sensory needs at the beginning as many don’t know about proprioceptive and vestibular senses. The book isn’t overly jargony and explains the concepts it handles well.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. It was a bit surreal reading this after living through COVID as so much time has passed it sometimes doesn’t feel real. Some of the poems were a little difficult to read, especially the one on Sarah Everard. There was a few pretty illustrations included in the book and overall it’s a great collection of poetry taking us through the COVID changes and lockdowns through a different perspective than our own. Favourite Quote:  "He was supposed to be safe. And he wasn’t. And she was supposed to be safe. And she wasn’t And her loss was a Tragedy. But anyone who thought it was just about what happened to one women wasn’t listening."

Rating: 2 Stars Themes: Mystery, Christmas Thoughts: I’m sure this would be the perfect cozy christmas mystery for some people but it was missing something for me. I found myself struggling to convince myself to pick the book up and even Clementines antics couldn’t make it up for me. Although the overall story did make sense and wrap it up nicely the book just wasn’t for me. 

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 great little book to help people better understand sleep. It covers the effects of sleep on some broad areas such as learning and memory, the body, and athletic performance and explains the concepts well. I liked that there was a chapter solely on women as it is well known in the scientific community that sleep has biological differences but often not so much in non-academic circles. I also liked the provision of how to find help being provided under how the book can help you towards the end. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Psychology  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is broken down well, making it easily digestible. I like the quotes dotted throughout and there’s also some great exercises such as Deconstructing Anxiety and Containing Catastrophe both of which are in handy boxes which break them out of the text well. Overall, this is a great short guide to start to target anxiety.