KJK Reads

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Holocaust, Mixed Media Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such an interesting way to read a tale like Grete and Julius’. The story itself is an explanation of their survival and lives in hiding through the Nazi occupation while staying away from the brutal violence that they were hiding from which makes it a great way to start to introduce this topic to children as it is more child friendly but still honest about the experience. The mixed media element makes it such an interesting way to read it as there are not only photos accompanying the text but other more immersive things such as stamps and fabrics there too. I also loved the author’s note as finding out Marion is Grete and Julius’ daughter makes the telling of the story more personal to the author. Favourite Quote: “My dear. Do you know what's happening out there? Your people are being killed by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, m...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Graphic Novel, History Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Straight off the bat this is a great book, I loved the dedication and the beginning to the preface was beautiful so it gave me a great indication of what I was getting myself into. I thought the beginning of the story with the mirror taking us into Opal’s childhood. Opal is such a resilient woman and she has a really amazing story. I thought the Bible quotes throughout were a nice touch since Opal mentions her closeness to God at the beginning. This could be a great way to explain the importance of Juneteenth and the recent legal holiday protection to children as the story is easy to follow and it doesn’t speak in an overly complicated manner. I also appreciated the extended timeline, further reading and having so many sources and resources at the end and there’s lots of further learning to be done from there. Favourite Quote: “We have simply go...

Rating:  4 Stars Themes: Romance, Small Town, Dual POV, Christmas Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a chaotic book and there is definitely the advertised mayhem with those town members and all those committees. There is great banter between Wren and Holden making the relationship feel fun and making the scenes where they’re at conflict an easier read with the snark. The ending is so sweet but Giuseppe’s cooking definitely scares me and may be the main reason I don’t want to live in Snowfall Creek despite how beautiful and fun the rest seems. Favourite Quote: “This is home not a place or a building, but this moment, these people, this beautiful disaster we've chosen.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Cookbook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great little cookbook. The foreword and introduction aren’t too long so it doesn’t take forever to get to the actual recipes like it can in some books. I liked that the recipes aren’t overly complicated and that the photo that accompanies each recipe makes them look very appetising. I also found it great that there’s a conversion chart included at the end so I didn’t have to keep googling to check things.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Cookbook  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a great little cookbook based on an esteemed institution. It was interesting to read the history of the Tavern in the beginning of the book as a Brit with no background knowledge. The equipment list at the beginning and the pantry section at the end are really useful. I thought it was awesome to have the book split up with each month as a chapter rather than just the generic seasons which I thought was going to happen with what I read before starting. The photos are also really appetising and make the recipes themselves even more appealing. 

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction, Educational  Thoughts: Being from the UK I didn’t know anything about Juneteenth before and thought this book would be a great building block for me to start with. The story centres around a young boy learning about Juneteenth and its importance to him and his family through their history is a great way to do things. This could be a great starter for young children to learn the importance of such a holiday for parents to then base their conversations off of. The illustrations are amazing and add so much to the story with the beautiful realism complimenting the lyrical text. Favourite Quote: “I understood why it's important to celebrate. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Children's Fiction, Christmas  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a cute cozy story that will be perfect for many children on Christmas Eve. The illustrations are beautifully done and the story feeds into the magic of Christmas through sweet little bears.  Favourite Quote: “Christmas is magic that lives in every heart.”

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Cookbook Thoughts:  I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I received a Sample Chapter of this book and as luck may have it the chapter was on Tomatoes which I just happened to have on the counter that needed using. Each recipe has a little description on the dish or its personal link to the author with some being longer than others. The recipe itself isn’t too complex and I liked the touch of having different meals for different size groups highlighted with one being a solo meal all the way up to 6 people. The photos were a great addition making everything seem so much more appetising.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Christmas, Psychological Fiction, Audiobook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was a cute Christmas story to keep me company while I did my wrapping. The town seems to be made of a random collection of eclectic people but somehow they still come together for festive events like the carols without disagreements. Christmas day didn’t exactly go to Malcolm’s plan and I did judge his attitude to it in the middle of the book but at the end the Ragtag bunch for Christmas was a heartwarming tale. I also loved how the 12 days of Christmas were represented. The narrator herself did the story well, especially with all the different accents present.

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Christmas, Novella, Women's Fiction, Romance Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I’m still not used to hearing about Covid in books, sometimes it feels like a weird dream till I’m reminded it happened like in here and there was quite a bit about Covid and its impact on small towns that not many city people would have thought of. It is a tiny but K name dense with 3 characters all sharing K names and I did get them mixed up once at the beginning but they’re different enough characters so that it isn’t a major issue (if you're not having a cog fog moment). I liked the presence of the chapter titles and appreciated the sisterhood solidarity of the Beach Bonfire Babes that I’m sure will shine through in other books in the series. Overall it was a short warm and cozy read with just enough Christmas to start to get me in the spirit without being hit in the face by the season. Favourite Quote: “Coming ...

Rating: 5 Stars Themes: Romance, Christmas, Fake Dating Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is such a funny festive romance that had me laughing out loud more than once. I fell in love with Laura instantly as she felt like such a relatable character and her quick wit really made the book. What can I say about that first meeting but it was unexpected and hilarious. It took me a little longer to get a read on Callum but he was a great character and the ups and downs of their plan don’t go to plan but it makes it even funnier. Also Desi and Joel may technically be side characters but they really shone through the pages they were in and I’d love a bond as strong as those 3 have (I mean an 11 hour drive, that truly is love).

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Non-Fiction, Teen, Self-Help Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book will be helpful to many young people in helping themselves develop in the teenage years. It was well researched and full of useful advice for teens while not coming across as overly lectury or talking down to them. The checklists and exercises are really helpful as well. However, as an ARC reader this was very difficult to read with the watermark across the whole page in each page, benign across the writing throughout. 

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Cookbook, Mindfulness  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. While I myself am not gluten free, I was attracted to the mindfulness element of this book since I am interested in the theory of mindful eating (called intentional eating here). The recipes were clearly labelled for which allergens they were free from which makes it easier finding an appropriate recipe when cooking for someone. I really liked the intention/affirmation before each recipe and it fits in with the title and approach the book takes well. The photos at the beginning are also good as they show what we’re aiming for clearly and make everything look so appetising. The recipes are easy to follow and there being more than one version available for recipes gives us more dishes than we initially expect.

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Cookbook Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This is a lovely little cookbook for biscuits and would be a great accompaniment to baking with children. There being a whole section on chocolate is great for a chocoholic like me and having one for “Something Fancy” highlights great biscuits to show off for company. The recipes themselves are easy to follow and don’t overcomplicate things like some cookbooks do. The only potential downside is that there are no pictures of the biscuits throughout the book but I have to admit that the illustrations remind me of a cooking book that I had growing up. 

Rating: 3 Stars Themes: Poetry  Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I struggled with the formatting of this book, being used to poetry books where there is a new page per poem, jumping into and out of this where in one case there were 2 poems on one page alone was difficult. The poems themselves portrayed relationships and loss well and there were some emotive ones too, like Angel. Favourite Quote: “My father told me that life is too short life is too unfair. For brief moments of time, these truths are more than my deter- mined heart can take.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Christmas, Romance, Short Story Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was my first formally atheist holiday romance (although some not declared as such also missed the overtly religious tones) and it was a great introduction to them for me. I liked the way in which such sensitive topics have been handled and it outlined the characters' behaviours early on so we didn’t need to waste time slowly digging out motives and the characters themselves were loveable. I also liked how natural the romance progression felt, despite how fast it happened it didn’t feel rushed or fake.  Favourite Quote: “Why should Christians get to have all the fun? Yes, the chokehold the holiday has on this time of year is annoying, sucking the air out of absolutely everything else, but the Merry Masquerade is my way of reclaiming Christmas on my own terms.”

Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Mystery, Murder Mystery Thoughts: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book is the first in the Deadly Destinations series but this series does follow characters from the Heywood Herbalist series. However, the book does a great job of outlining the important bits of the characters and their histories so that we don’t feel like we’re missing things without having read the others. I think the characters themselves have continued very well and it does feel like the same people just on holiday. The mystery itself had me guessing and changing my mind a few times which is so impressive in a short book but it definitely wasn’t missing any of the mystery being shorter.  Favourite Quote: "Funny how murder could clear a room almost faster than a fire"