Monday Minis – June 24th

I’ve been out of the reviewing game for soooo long even writing mini reviews feels foreign to me. I’ve also been behind my reviews because life’s been so busy since March buuuuut I’m trying to get back to my bookish life so let’s DO THIS. 😎 (Also please bear with me cause I’m rusty LOL)

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Enlightenment by Reno Ursal
Published by Pacific Boulevard on March 14, 2019
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 249
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Author
Goodreads

When Dorothy Dizon meets the mysterious Adrian Rosario and his alluring knowledge of Filipino history, her life takes an unchartered detour. Dorothy's true calling is connected to the hidden history of the Philippines, but Adrian reveals nothing about the truth to keep her safe from enemies of his beloved secret society.

Together, they experience an emotional journey that tests their beliefs, their choices ultimately affecting the people they love, leading them to the brink of enlightenment.

Enlightenment, Book One of The Bathala Series explores the forgotten history of the Philippines through the first-person perspectives of Filipino characters who walk the precipice between friendship and love.

I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

My rating stings a little because I was rooting for this book so badly. If you know me at all you know how much I’ve been dreaming about a book on Philippine mythology, so when I first heard of Enlightenment I was thrilled! Finally! To top it off it also talks about Philippine history? It felt like winning the lottery. I love anything that touches on Philippine history because there’s so little about it before colonialism. Englightenment did deliver on its history and I absolutely enjoyed it. What didn’t work for me however, was everything else. I’m sad this book wasn’t for me. The characters lacked depth (they were too perfect), I couldn’t connect with the writing and the storytelling, and the plot itself was just not engaging. Even the fantastic elements weren’t convincing and I love my fantasy. I struggled with finishing this one and I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series. If it was longer and had more time to flesh out the writing, story, and characters, I think it would have been stronger.

Draw Stronger: Self-Care for Cartoonists and Visual Artists by Kriota Willberg
Published by Uncivilized Books on May 11, 2018
Genres: Non-fiction
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1941250238
Source: Bookstore
Goodreads

You're a cartoonist. You take care of yourself to prevent drawing injuries. You do your stretches, take regular breaks, and draw with perfect posture. What happens? You start experiencing pain when you draw anyway! A perfect example of bad things happening to good people. What should you do? Go to the doctor if it's serious. But, if it's a minor injury, go to your bookshelf and start reading Draw Longer, Draw Stronger! This little tome can be used to help reduce discomfort until you see a healthcare professional, or it can provide guidelines for managing mild drawing injuries that don't require medical attention. Explore Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation Therapy (R.I.C.E. Therapy) from the perspective of a committed drawer, learn some tips for understanding your pain, avoid worsening your injuries, and more!

Every visual artist needs this in their arsenal. We’re all aware that we need to take breaks and do stretches in between long work sessions, but Draw Stronger delves deeper into the whys and hows of this process. Willberg not only talks about the different types of injuries caused by repetitive activities but they also cover (and illustrate!) exercises for various parts of the body (neck, shoulder, wrists, back, etc). It’s a detailed book told in a fun and sometimes comedic way with Willberg’s drawings and I’ll be sure to keep referring back to it for injury prevention and management.

The Sketchbook of Loish: Art in progress by Lois van Baarle, 3dtotal Publishing
Published by 3DTotal Publishing on April 20, 2018
Genres: Non-fiction, Art
Pages: 152
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 1909414549
Source: Bookstore
Goodreads

The Sketchbook of Loish offers readers a unique look into Loish’s creative processes and idea generation, providing an insight into the role her sketches play in her extremely popular work. Peek inside Loish’s sketchbook and discover how she explores gesture, stylization, and sketching for animation. Learn the different techniques she uses when sketching with traditional and digital tools, and follow the book’s two detailed tutorials on character construction and sketching digitally to improve your own processes. The book also features handy quick tips for capturing movement, using different line weights, shading, and using textured brushes. Including an insight into Loish’s character sketching, development sketches, landscape, and reference studies this book will show you how Loish captures the spirit of her finished artworks in her exquisite preliminary work.

Lois van Baarle is quite well known in the art community and her book definitely did not disappoint. I love watching an artist at work and to have her thought process and sketches laid out in this book was such a treat for me. There’s so much beauty in the pages of this book and even if you’re not an artist and you just love her work, you’re going to enjoy this one. This was so inspiring to me that I ended up sketching a Loish-inspired character after reading this book and had a lot of fun with it. If that isn’t one of the best things about Art Of books, I don’t know what is.