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The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories #2

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Volume 2

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Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Looper, 500 Days of Summer) made a big splash with The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories—so now he’s back with volume 2! One of the most ingenious and successful projects to come out of Gordon-Levitt's online creative coalition hitRECord—an international collaboration of artists and writers—The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 2 offers more quirky, delightfully small, ingeniously illustrated haiku-like tales, proving once more that the universe isn’t made of atoms; it’s made of tiny stories. The best things do come in small packages.

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2012

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3427 people want to read

About the author

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

11 books485 followers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films.

He is known for his roles in the 2009 indie 500 Days of Summer (for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination), a supporting role in the 2010 science fiction film Inception, and for starring in the 2011 drama 50/50. Beginning in commercials as a young child, he made his film debut in 1992's Beethoven. Gordon-Levitt subsequently co-starred in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) as the young Tommy Solomon.

After a hiatus during which he attended Columbia University, Gordon-Levitt left television for film acting, appearing in films like 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Manic (2001), followed by critically acclaimed performances in 2004's Mysterious Skin, 2005's Brick, and 2007's The Lookout.

He runs an online collaborative production company called HitRECord. —Wikipedia

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5 stars
1,357 (42%)
4 stars
1,167 (36%)
3 stars
527 (16%)
2 stars
111 (3%)
1 star
26 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 351 reviews
Profile Image for Reading_ Tamishly.
5,288 reviews3,417 followers
January 6, 2021
"As my story came to a close I realized that I was the villian all along."

I love this small book so much!!!
The illustrations are on spot and the little lines said everything. It depicts mental health, depression and suicide. And all those feelings that others would not understand.

Everything was so damn relatable.

Freaking adorable I say!
Profile Image for Jasmine.
668 reviews57 followers
November 29, 2012
"I'm tired
of being tired
of being tired
of being"

That's one of many good stories in the book, but it's the one that struck me. I spoke in a couple other reviews about being diagnosed with depression and my shitty shitty meds and how they did nothing. That story that catches where I'm coming from.

I got a second opinion, the therapist thinks I have bipolar II with mixed or "irritable states" this basically means I have bipolar minus the fun part. This story makes me dwell on that as well.

I'm on different meds now, I feel more apathetic, but less suicidal, I feel tired. the story makes me live in that world two.

I go to work every day and I wait for someone to yell at me, I know it's coming so I don't even stress it anymore I just sit and screw up and wait and hope maybe this time someone will help me fix it, this story is about that too.

that's the point of a tiny story it is everything and nothing. It's a koan, it's a Rorschach but most importantly it tells us who we are.

"We must find ourselves in fiction"
Profile Image for Lauren.
989 reviews923 followers
February 22, 2019
The second installment of the Tiny Stories series is simply perfect for dipping in and out of when you have a spare few minutes.

This collection offers the reader a plethora of riches ranging from the deeply heartfelt musings (see Life and Death, Accident, He imagined a wonderful world and I just need some time away sketches), to the cute (heart, pillow, And when the day is done sketches), to the poignant (see fish, Gretel, I lost you, She came with a face and creature sketches).

All of the tiny stories are, once again, accompanied by some stunning illustrations which makes this collection a beautiful treat of a book.

If you want a book which moves and touches you using the sparest of words then The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Vol. 2 is a definite must read.

Recommended to each and every single one of you!
Profile Image for مصطفي سليمان.
Author 2 books2,196 followers
September 5, 2014
لو انت فاكره كتاب أطفال
ف اه

لو فاكره كتاب كبار
ف اه برده

كتاب دافي , كتاب غامق ف اماكن كتيره

حبيت بساطته

وانه كدا حقيقي وقريب منك

نماذج






Profile Image for Despina | inwhirlofinspiration.
8 reviews1 follower
July 26, 2016
What I was expecting and more! That was all about.

In this wonderful little book you will find a collection of drawings made by wirrow and many other artists. They all have as a common basis the stories. The stories that were said, came up, or stayed deep and hidden in a brain's lobe.
Here are some favorite illustration of mine:
description
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You can find more pictures and a flipping-through-the-book video, here.

I suggest that as a gift to anyone who loves stories of all kinds. You can find some really thoughtful and whimsical gems inside.
Profile Image for catherine ♡.
1,699 reviews169 followers
March 28, 2017
An amazing sequel. This book was beautiful and adorable and it was amazing to see how a story could be told in a few simple words.
Profile Image for Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance.
6,384 reviews335 followers
February 29, 2020
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. It's a hundred pages of stories that simply consist of a sentence or two and an illustration. And each one packs a small punch.





Simple. Inspiring sometimes. Humorous sometimes. Surprising.
Profile Image for ⊰ Elin ⊱.
220 reviews35 followers
September 15, 2025
“𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝.”
Profile Image for Cheryl.
6,445 reviews234 followers
December 13, 2012
The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 2 is a fun collection of short stories. Some of the stories are quirky, which I liked. The illustrations that went with the stories were great. I almost could tell what some of the story were about by just by looking at the pictures. I did not need the words to go with them.

In addition, I like the idea of how this collection of stories came about. I checked out Joseph’s website, HitRecord and it is a very cool site. Everyone should check the site out. There are stories in this book for everyone.


Some of my favorites are:

One day she looked

Up and discovered an

Opening in her planet,

She wondered if she

Wasn’t alone after all.


-----------------------------


I just need some time away

To remember why I stay.

-------------------------

After you died I realized that

I never really liked hunting.

I just liked hanging out with you.


After reading this collection of stories, I am inspired enough that I just might have to upload a story of my own on the HitRecord website. I would suggest giving this book a look. It is worth every penny of the purchase price. I love when people can come together and share what inpires them. This book show cases some of that and more.

Profile Image for Nikhat Hetavkar.
228 reviews152 followers
July 24, 2013
As brilliant as its predecessor,The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, Vol. 2 is a great read. The illustrations are adorable and the text thought provoking. It very subtly tugs at your heart strings throughout alternating between cute, funny or sad stories all in the length of one page.


Ohh, dear book, where were you all my life?

P.S Dear JGL, just when I thought I couldn't love you more!! You do this to me! You should be ashamed of yourself!

So PICK THIS SHIT UP NOW!

Not convinced? Let the adorable Regular Joe convince you !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPErpN...
Profile Image for Rola.
Author 19 books1,337 followers
February 2, 2017
Amazing and simple,,,, I bet you'd find a story or two that may touch you personally.

كأنها ببساطة مزيج ممتع بين "قصاصات قابلة للحرق" د. أحمد خالد و كشاكيل رسم عمنا "اللباد" ☺





Profile Image for Ecrim Yavuz.
358 reviews38 followers
September 4, 2019
3 / 5
Dün goodreads anasayfamda birinin okumak için listelediğini görüp atmıştım okuma listeme, ardından çok sevdiğim bir ebook sitesinde görünce direkt indirdim. Bu gün de okumuş ve bitirmiş oldum.
Çizimler biraz değişikti, derindi. 1'inci ve 3'üncü cildini de okumayı çok istiyorum. Ondan sonra seriyle ilgili bir yorum yazabilirim fakat şimdi sadece 2'inci cildi hakkında söyleyecek pek bir şeyim yok. Tekrar tekrar açıp bakılabilir ve farklı anlamlar çıkartılabilir. Yine de okurken bazı çizimlerden ve yazılardan rahatsız olduğumu da söylemem gerekir.
Profile Image for Priyanka.
41 reviews2 followers
March 9, 2015
Tiny Stories is a winner. A thing to have and hold.

It commemorates exquisite ordinariness in a splendid and pleasantly simple way.

As Maria Popova beautifully puts it - " A charmingly minimalist cross-pollination of word and image at the heart of being human."
Profile Image for kb.
696 reviews22 followers
December 31, 2017
When I saw this at Dasa Book Cafe in Bangkok in June, I remember feeling so giddy. I was doing my writing project (#ProjectFlashPiction #PFP7D ) while travelling, and just what kind of kismet was it that we found each other? I liked the format—tiny, compact, sturdy—and liked the content too—tiny fiction, also compact (as in, obvs, short) and sturdy (as in strong in impact). Most of the stories revolve around fear, worry and anxiety, emotions I was very familiar with, and I enjoyed how much I was able to relate to most of them. It felt like finding a friend who understood exactly what I was going through. (To think I didn't even know what hitRECord was!) Recommended to those who want to get into reading verse, or those who enjoy very short stories with accompanying art. (Oh yes, the art! If you check out other reviews for this book, you'll see they attached photos to show just how noteworthy they are.)
Profile Image for Shay.
768 reviews19 followers
December 5, 2012
You likely know Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor, be it from Third Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) or his more recent work, such as Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Looper (2012). However, he is also the founder of HitRECord, the open collaborative production company which produced The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 2, a collaborative anthology of artwork and writing that could easily be described as either a (very) short story collection, or poetry, depending on which piece you are looking at. Materials contributed to HitRECord are openly accessible and available to be remixed. Gordon-Levitt and wirrow collaborated to select and edit the pieces in this anthology. For example, illustrations from one writer may be combined with the artwork contributed by another participant. All contributors are credited in the resources section at the back of the book. 62 contributors participated in this book.

It would be difficult to identify a single unifying theme in this volume, but there are a few common threads. The text of the first piece reads “we must hide find ourselves in fiction,” and many of the pieces explore the importance of stories in our lives, and the idea of fiction as more than mere escapism, but rather as a method of making meaning. Many of the pieces also use wordplay and juxtaposition to toy with our expectations or shift our perspective with just a few words or a few pencil lines. For example, the text “one day she looked up and discovered an opening in her planet. She wondered if she wasn’t alone after all,” takes on a new meaning when placed next to a drawing of a fishbowl.

Physically and artistically, this is a beautiful book. It is small, like the stories it contains, with a navy cloth cover and illustrated endpapers. The illustrations are largely black and white, with the occasional splash of red, but the limited palate never seems to limit the expression; you see the full run of what can be done with black, white, grey and red in these pages. Although this book is available in digital form, I highly recommend the paper copy, particularly if your device has an e-ink screen.
Profile Image for Romane.
316 reviews9 followers
August 31, 2017
I finally got my hands on a copy! I still couldn't get my clutches on volume 1, but I think this will suffice and satisfy my cravings for the time being. I totally love all of what's inside, warts and all. I practically went all gung-ho while reading it.

Here are some snippets:















I really enjoyed reading this. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is so brilliant, I've always admired his works. One of the best and truest books I've ever read.
Profile Image for Miss Bookiverse.
2,217 reviews87 followers
September 16, 2015
So kreativ! Jede Geschichte besteht nur aus wenigen Worten, aber in Kombination mit der Gestaltung steckt da so viel drin! Manche Geschichten hab ich sofort verstanden, oft sind sie traurig oder melancholisch. Für andere hat mein Kopf länger gebraucht und von wenigen war ich auch nach längerem Nachdenken noch verwirrt.
Profile Image for Lisa.
135 reviews178 followers
July 5, 2013
“This is the saddest, most
depressing music i’ve ever heard.

It makes me so happy.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 351 reviews

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