Book Review: Warcross by Marie Lu

“Every locked door has a key. Every problem has a solution.” 

OVERALL RATING: 9.5/10

            STORY: 9/10

            CHARACTERS: 9/10

            THE FEELS: 9/10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 10/ 10

PLOT: 9/10

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire. 

Book Feature: Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

“Why must you look like the rest of us? Why do you have to be the one to change? Change the way we see. Don't change the way you are.”

Alice Alexis Queensmeadow 12 rates three things most important: Mother, who wouldn’t miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. Father disappeared from Ferenwood with only a ruler, almost three years ago. But she will have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can be up, paper is alive, and left can be both right and very, very wrong. Her only companion is Oliver whose own magic is based in lies and deceit. Alice must first find herself—and hold fast to the magic of love in the face of loss.

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Book Feature: Warcross by Marie Lu

“Every locked door has a key. Every problem has a solution.” 

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

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Book Review: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

“Corsai, Corsai, tooth and claw,

Shadow and bone will eat you raw.

Malchai, Malchai, sharp and sly,

Smile and bite and drink you dry.”

“Sunai, Sunai, eyes like coal,

Sing you a song and steal your soul.”

OVERALL RATING: 8.7/10

            STORY: 8/10

            CHARACTERS: 10/10

            THE FEELS: 9 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 10/ 10

PLOT: 7/10

 There is no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

Now Reading: This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab

The first book

I just purchased this book yesterday. I also bought with it the series second installment, Our Dark Duet. I have been hearing a lot of good things about Victoria. Especially how good she writes, her unique writing style, and her The Darker Shades of Magic series (which I am planning to get next after this series). So, I am pretty excited to read this. Hoping it will live up to my expectations and the hypes.

The second book.

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Book Review: See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng

Book with the bookmark I got from Sagada

“knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good.”

OVERALL RATING: 7/10

            STORY: 8/10

            CHARACTERS: 5/10

            THE FEELS: 7 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 8.5/ 10

PLOT: 6/ 10

I got this book after we watched the movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi (which by the way was epic). I originally planned to get the book Mosquitoland that day but the moment I saw this book on the shelves, the cover blew me away. You see, I have this thing with orange and blue. These two colors really compliment each other. Anyway, aside from the cover I picked this book because the synopsis said it involves traveling, and boy I love stories that involves the main characters in an adventure.

This is a middle grade book but any age can definitely enjoy reading this. This is the first novel of the author and to be honest its quite impressive for a debut. I have mixed reactions for this book. I don't love it that much but I don't also hate it. Its like a relationship in between. 

Book Feature: Strange the Dreamer by Lani Taylor

“It was impossible, of course. But when did that ever stop any dreamer from dreaming.”

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Check out some book reviews here. 

Book Feature: See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng

“knowledge is better than ignorance, and it’s better to find out and embrace the truth even if that truth might not feel good.” 

11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. 

But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he’ll uncover—from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.

Check out some book reviews here. 

Book Vlog #3: November 2017 Book Haul

Book Feature: The Alchemist of Loom by Elise Kova

“Don’t let the shadows of the past smother the possibility for a bright future.”

Her vengeance. His vision. Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go. He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

Check out some book reviews here. 

Now Reading: Dead Zone by Robison Wells

I am a fan of Robison Wells ever since I finished reading his Variant book and still remained a fan even he disappointed me on the sequel of the Variant, Feedback. My copy of the Dead Zone is one of the books I got from this years Fullybooked Sale (I got a total of 17 books for 900 pesos only). I have read the first book of the series back in 2013 during my first visit in Cebu. If I can still recall it properly, the book Blackout by Wells is the first book that I bought from the Fullybooked Ayala Cebu branch. I have mixed reactions about Blackout (see review here), I somewhat loved it and the same time hate it. Maybe because I just expected too much from the author after he wowed me in his book Variant (see review here). But, overall Blackout was fun and that is why I am going to read this second book Dead Zone. I have seen this book on the shelves of the bookstores for years now, but since I did not really find the first installment spectacular, I refused to pick this one and prioritized the other options. Now, that this is on sale (50 pesos only from 380 pesos), I have no more reasons to not buy this one. 

My Teaching Philosophy

           “It is the task of the enlightened not only to ascend to learning and to see the good but to be willing to descend again to those prisoners and to share their troubles and their honors, whether they are worth having or not. And this they must do, even with the prospect of death.”

This must have been the best lines that sum up what I have learned after completing the process of knowing and understanding the concepts behind the Allegory of the Cave by Plato.I am a faculty instructor of the College of Pharmacy of Southwestern University PHINMA, and my job is to make sure that I help the students learn the knowledge and wisdom needed to become registered pharmacists. Southwestern University PHINMA is an institution that aims to be an instrument for game-changers: for serious and driven learners to become the best that they can be. As a science-oriented faculty instructor, I did have a hard time understanding the entire concept of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. It was a near-traumatic experience as I was feeling lost and confused the entire time I was watching the video and reading materials related to it. The experience made me ask myself a question: “How can a university achieve their goal of producing individuals to be the best that they can be, if faculty instructors are not able to understand the concept behind Plato’s Allegory of the Cave?”. I know the question is not a concrete basis to a faculty instructor’s efficiency in helping the university achieve the goal, but my answer opened windows that paved the way to new learnings. My answer to the question started the development of my philosophy in teaching. It acted as a drive for me to learn all the world and educational philosophies, differentiate them from each other, and assess which of these best suits my philosophy of teaching.

My November 2017 Book Haul

Thanks to Fullybooked Ayala Cebu for making this happen. I bought 15 out of the 17 books for this book haul from them. Of this 15, 14 are on sale. I just spent 950 php for these 14 books. That makes an average of around 50-100 php per book. The last time I participated on their annual book sale was 2015. I will be posting some book features soon.

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Image from Goodreads

“No one in the world gets what they want and that is beautiful.”

OVERALL RATING: 9.7 /10

            STORY: 9/10

            CHARACTERS: 10/10

            THE FEELS: 10/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 10/ 10

PLOT: 9/ 10

 In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape

Review:
The book started laying out the world in the future. Where games that are played in virtual reality powered by terabytes of internet connection speed is very normal. In the story, everybody plays the game Oasis made by one of the geekiest and richest guy on the planet, Halliday.  Oasis is a virtual world that shelters real people who ran away from their real lives. The story anchors its plot the moment it reveals that Halliday died and all his fortunes are up for grabs to whoever player of the Oasis wins the last game he made inside his game Oasis, the hunt for his magical egg. The winner of the game will basically be the next Halliday, the owner of the biggest game on the earth and of course one of the richest guy living. The game for the hunt of Halliday’s magical egg are outlined by hunting three keys, the copper key, jade key and the crystal key. Once all three keys are collected, the player who did it first gets the front row seat in unraveling the location of the magical egg.

Book Feature: Artemis by Andy Weir

"A story about a city on the moon with a female lead."

Jazz Bashara is a criminal.
Well, sort of. Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.
Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

The bestselling author of The Martian returns with an irresistible new near-future thriller—a heist story set on the moon.

More On:

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Now Reading: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Photo's mine. Review for this awesome book will be ready after I finish reading.

Book Review: Smoke and Mirrors by Michael Faudet

Image from Goodreads

"The further we run away from out heart, the quicker we lose sight of who we really are."

         STORY:9/10

            CHARACTERS: 8/10

            THE FEELS: 7.5/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 8/ 10

PLOT: 7/ 10

OVERALL RATING: 8/10

Smoke & Mirrors is the third book from internationally bestselling poet Michael Faudet, author of Bitter Sweet Love and Dirty Pretty Things—both finalists in the 2016 and 2015 Goodreads Readers Choice Awards.

Michael Faudet’s latest book takes the reader on an emotionally charged journey, exploring the joys of falling madly in love and the melancholy world of the brokenhearted. Beautifully captured in poetry, prose, and short stories, Faudet's whimsical and sometimes erotic writing has captured the hearts and minds of thousands of readers from around the world.

Book Review: Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

Image from Goodreads

“How you love yourself is

how you teach others

to love you.” 

OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10

                     THE FEELS: 8/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT:7/ 10

  

    Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. It is about the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. It is split into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose, deals with a different pain, heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

   This book will surely hit your heart and will make you think of things in life that we people always took for granted. This is a very feminist book (for me) and I think that is what really molded the identity of this book. It is not to that quality of Faudets' and Leavs' pieces but this one, by Kaur, is making it's own identity, it's own style. This book will inspire reader to "keep going" . There will be stages in life-- in love--- that will challenge us or test us and this book tells the story of an individual who dipped herself into those tests and rise above them with strength and dignity. The poems in the book will move the readers. The piece is very realistic and readers can easily relate to the contents. A must read for people who wants to be inspired by words and keep moving on in life that is full of unfathomable circumstances. 

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Book Feature:Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Image from Goodreads

“No one in the world gets what they want and that is beautiful

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the  OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, Ready Player One is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.

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Book Feature: Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Image from Goodreads

"Thou shalt kill."

   A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

   Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

   Two teens are forced to murder maybe each other in the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the "New York Times" bestselling Unwind dystology.  In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ( gleaned ) by professional reapers ( scythes ). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe s apprentices, and despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.  Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe s apprentice. And when it becomes clear that the winning apprentice s first task will be to glean the loser, Citra and Rowan are pitted against one another in a fight for their lives."

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Book Review: Rebel Spring (#2 of Falling Kingdoms) by Morgan Rhodes

Image from Goodreads

“Sometimes, to regain sanity, one had to acknowledge and embrace the madness.” 

OVERALL RATING: 5.5/10

            STORY: 7/10

            CHARACTERS: 5/10

            THE FEELS: 5/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 7/ 10

PLOT: 8/ 10

Synopsis: After a bloody siege, Auranos has been defeated, its young queen orphaned and dethroned. The three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But the allure of ancient, dangerous magic beckons still, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the whole world over...

At the heart of the fray are four brave young people grappling for that magic and the power it promises. For Cleo, the magic would enable her to reclaim her royal seat. In Jonas's hands, it frees his nation, and in Lucia's, it fulfills the ancient prophecy of her destiny. And if the magic were Magnus's, he would finally prove his worth in the eyes of his cruel and scheming father, King Gaius, who rules Mytica with a punishing hand.

When Gaius begins to build a road into the Forbidden Mountains to physically link all of Mytica, he sparks a long-smoking fire in the hearts of the people that will forever change the face of this land. For Gaius's road is paved with blood, and its construction will have cosmic consequences.

Book Review: The Boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones

Image from web

OVERALL RATING: 8.5 /10

            STORY: 8/10

            CHARACTERS: 8/10

            THE FEELS: 10/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 10/ 10

PLOT: 8/ 10

How does it feel to lost your father mysteriously? I mean, loosing him in just a glimpse of an eye and having no idea why did it happen? The novel, The Boy in the Burning House is an Edgar Award winner novel of Tim Wynee-Jones. A novel that revolves around the world of Jim Hawkins. Jim Hawkins lost his father two years ago. Is he dead or just gone? Then Jim meets Ruth Rose. Moody, provocative, she’s the bad-girl stepdaughter of Father Fisher, Jim’s father’s childhood friend and the town pastor, and she shocks Jim out of his stupor when she tells him her stepfather is a murderer.

Book review: Midnighters: The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld

Image from Web

OVERALL RATING: 7.5 /10

            STORY: 7/10

            CHARACTERS: 6/10

            THE FEELS: 9.5/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 10/ 10

PLOT: 8/ 10

Nobody is safe in the secret hour. Strange things happen at midnight in the town of Bixby, Oklahoma. Time freezes. Nobody moves. For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of people know about the secret hour — only they are free to move about the midnight time. These people call themselves Midnighters. Each one has a different power that is strongest at midnight: Seer, Mindcaster, Acrobat, Polymath. For years the Midnighters and the dark creatures have shared the secret hour, uneasily avoiding one another. All that changes when the new girl with an unmistakable midnight aura appears at Bixby High School. Jessica Day is not an outsider like the other Midnighters. She acts perfectly normal in every way. But it soon becomes clear that the dark creatures sense a hidden power in Jessica . . . and they’re determined to stop her before she can use it. A story of courage, shadowy perils, and unexpected destiny, the secret hour is the first volume of the mesmerizing Midnighters trilogy by acclaimed author Scott Westerfeld.

Book Review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Image from Goodreads

“You are as real as anyone, and your doubts make you more real, not less.” 

OVERALL RATING: 9 /10

            STORY: 8/10

            CHARACTERS: 10/10

            THE FEELS: 9/ 10

            ENTERTAINMENT: 10/ 10

PLOT: 9/ 10

I was quite scared on the things that John Green stored for us, the readers, in his new novel Turtles All the Way Down. Why? First, he needs to, not beat, but at least give justice to the success of The Fault in Our Stars. Second, it has been a while since he showed us his greatness, the wait should be worth it. But after reading the book (just less than an hour ago), I was not disappointed. Here are some of the reasons why I love the Turtles All the Way Down.

J.G. Recipe

What I really love about John Green’s works is the fact that his pieces really relate to the readers. In this new novel, he tackles mental health. Again, John Green never failed to deliver when it comes to how his work can easily relate to his readers. I am not saying, that his readers have mental health issues. What I mean is that, no matter what issues or disorders are being serve by his book (like cancer for TFIOS), he always knows how to connect them to the interests of the readers. This thing – or whatever he is doing to make this “relating” stuff work, I call it the J.G. (John Green duh) Recipe.

Now Reading: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Book review soon. 

Biri Island, Northern Samar

How to go there? 

***Calbayog > Allen > Lavezares > Biri***
*Plane from Mactan-Cebu Airport to Calbayog Airport (1 hour)*

- Plane ticket prices vary. Take advantage of CebPac’s promo prices now (despite their crappy service), or PAL’s. CebPac’s flight usually arrive at noon, while PAL’s arrive early in the morning.
- (You can also take a Cebu – Catarman flight. I heard there’s a ride from Catarman straight to Lavezares.)

*Tricycle from Calbayog Airport to Calbayog Grand Tours Van Terminal (15 minutes)*

- Just look for a trike driver and ask him to drive you to Grand Tours. The airport is a bit far from the town proper, so he might ask you to pakyaw the ride for 120php. Try haggling for 100php for the entire ride, if you can. Normal rate per tricycle ride around the town proper is 10php per head. Local carenderia stalls abound the area too, if you are hungry).
- (If you plan to stay in Calbayog for a while, Marcial’s Grill has some tasty tender ribs and fried chicken. Buy pasalubong in Brgy. Matobato (just a hundred-meter walk from Marcial’s Grill) on your way home. Calbayog’s smoked fish is the bomb!)
- (If you have a few days to spare, check out Calbayog’s waterfalls, and the Pink Beach in Sila Island.)