Review - Losing it by Cora Carmack

Genre: new adult, contemporary, romance
Pages: 280
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

Summary
As far as Bliss Edwards can tell, she's the last virgin standing, certainly amongst her friends. And she's determined to deal with the 'problem' as quickly and simply as possible.

But her plan for a no-strings one night stand turns out to be anything but simple. Especially when she arrives for her first class and recognises her hot new British professor.

She'd left him naked in her bed just 8 hours earlier... 

My thoughts
I haven't had that much luck with new adult novels so far, but with this one I was pleasantly surprised. Although I have yet to read an amazing NA novel, this one was definitely a compelling read. It was funny and mostly just very cute. It read this book pretty much in one sitting. As much as I enjoyed it I wasn't completely blown away by the story. Honestly, at the middle of the book I felt like there was a little bit too much 'high school drama', but maybe that's just me because contemporary is not my favorite genre.
I did like Bliss as a main character, she was akward and cute and didn't turn out to be as passive as I thought she would be. I also really liked Bliss's friend Cade. He was sweet and always seemed to have Bliss's interest in mind, even when he himself was hurting. Garrick, the guy who turns out to be Bliss's professor, was swoon worthy, but I have to say that he lost a bit of his charm when he was mean to Cade. The little moments that were shared with all of Bliss's friend were really nice,  friendship is something I often miss in books. I also liked how theater was part of the book, it provided a really nice atmosphere.
I had quite a hard time rating this book. I did really enjoy it and it was hard to put it down, but it is not a read I will remember for a long time and I don't think I'll ever reread it.

I honestly hate the cover of this book. I'm generally not a huge fan of photos of people on covers, but I feel like this one also doesn't really suit the book. Although Bliss wanting to lose her virginity is what starts off the story, the book doesn't focus on sex that much. It's mainly a cute romance story, but that's not really the vibe I'm getting from the cover.

The making of a book cover

Besides reading and writing one of the things I also really love is crafting and I love seeing what amazing things other people have made. I came across pictures of a book cover in the making and I loved the creative process behind it, so I wanted to share it with you.
This book is a Dutch childrens book by Milan Hofmans and the city on the cover is a model the author made himself. It is made of wood and clay.


      From this:                                                                                to this:

Source: milanhofmans.nl

Review - The tiny book of tiny stories, Volume 1

Genre: short stories, poetry
Pages: 87
Rating: 5/5
Goodreads 

Summary
The universe is not made of atoms; it's made of tiny stories.

To create The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, known within the hitRECord community as RegularJOE--directed thousands of collaborators to tell tiny stories through words and art. With the help of the entire creative collective, Gordon-Levitt culled, edited and curated over 8,500 contributions into this finely tuned collection of original art from 67 contributors. Reminiscent of the 6-Word Memoir series, The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1 brings together art and voices from around the world to unite and tell stories that defy size.

My thoughts
I bought this book on a whim because the concept intrigued me and when it arrived in the mail it made my day! The stories and poems in this little book are only a few lines, but all of them are really wonderful and the black and white illustrations are definitely an addition. Some stories are funny and adorable, but others are sad and have some deeper layers. I whish this tiny book was a bit bigger! This is one of those books that you can just pick up whenever you feel like it, open it on a random page and be surprised. It would also make for a wonderful gift!
I know there are already two more volumes out and I'll definitely try to get my hands on those.

My favorite tiny story is probably this one:

The sun is such a lonely star.

Whenever he comes out to see his friends, they all disappear.


Watch this clip to find out more about the collaboration!

Review - Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

Genre: classic, romance
Pages: 464
Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads

Summary
Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

My thoughts
This is the third book I have read by Jane Austen and although I enjoyed it, it is not my favorite. It lacked some of the elements that made me love Pride & Prejudice and Emma so much, but the writing style was great. The plot was interesting, but unfortunately the middle of the book was quite slow paced. It still compelled me to keep reading and the pace picked up towards the end. The ending was very descriptive again, like the beginning of the book, and some of the things I was hoping that would happen were mentioned only briefly on the last few pages so it felt a bit rushed. I think the middle of the book could have been condensed a bit and the ending could have been somewhat longer, but I still was really pleased after finishing this book.
This book feels more distant and descriptive than the other books do. Also it doesn't have as much dialogue and I think that the dialogue is definitely one of Austen's strenghts. P&P and Emma are full of witty lines and I would have loved to see those in this novel as well.
The book focusses on Elinor and Marianne whose personalities are polar opposites. Although I myself am an introvert and because of that would have expected to relate to Elinor the most, I was often a little frustrated with her and had a hard time connecting with her. Elinor conforms a lot more to society than Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, the heroines of the other stories, do. She always kept her feelings to herself and when people treated her badly she didn't do anything about it. Elinor's love interest, Edward Ferrars, was a nice guy, but honestly he came across a little boring. I would have loved to know a little more of the things Elinor liked about him, because that way I probably would have cared about him more too.
The relationship between Elinor and Marianne was really sweet. Although they both have problems they struggle with, they try to set their personal feelings aside to come to the aid of their sibling.

Although this was not my favorite Jane Austen book I can't wait to read other books by her!

Untitled poem #2

In de zee van de zon

Wil ik zinken

Verdrinken

Lachend en dromend

Ten onder gaan

'In the sea of the sun

I want to sink

Drown

Laughing and dreaming

Perish'

Review - Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Genre: comics, fantasy, science fiction
Pages:
Rating: 5/5
Goodreads

Summary
Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old world. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in the first volume of this sexy, subversive ongoing epic.

My thoughts
I've been wanting to read more comics for a while now, but I never really had an idea where to start. I heard many great things about Saga so I decided to give it a go and I am glad I did because I absolutely loved it! The artwork is beautiful. I love the colors, they fit all the different planets and places very well. I also really liked the unique clothes one of the main characters Alana is wearing.
Alana and Marko are both great characters. Alana is a very strong woman who doesn't take no for an answer. She is willing to do anything for her daughter Hazel. Marko seems to be more sensitive, but he really sees it as his duty to protect his family and to be there for them. I like Alana and Marko as a couple because they are both very strong people and in their relationship they really seem to be equals.
We also experience some parts of the story from the viewpoint of the people chasing Alana, Marko and Hazel. I mostly enjoyed reading about the freelancer The Will. The author did a great job of not making him just another villain but also giving some insight into why he does the things he does.
I don't read a lot of books about parents, so this was a pretty unique read for me. Also the different cultures Alana and Marko are from where an interesting aspect.
I'm already hooked on this series and hopefully I'll get to the next volume soon!

Short story saturday # 8

To encourage myself (and maybe others) to write more, I will post a prompt every saturday to write a short story.

This week's prompt:

A young artist gets arrested for selling a stolen painting.