While in the Navy, he won three Chief of Information (CHINFO) Merit Awards for writing and the Thomas Jefferson Award from the Department of Defense (DOD) for a photo feature. He was also the recipient of the 2002 Pluma Award in Journalism from the Gintong Pamana Awards Foundation, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. He lives in Seattle, Washington, where he writes his weekly column, A Cup o' Kapeng Barako.

The time frame of these stories collected in this book, written in my column, A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako, has a span of four years. The beginning chapters began in the year of 2012 when President Barack Obama was campaigning for his re-election, ending in the final chapters when Obama in year 2008 ran for the presidency of the United States. But this book is not solely or merely about my opinions on politics. It’s also about my take on current events, and my Barako thoughts on people and things that affected me personally. This book also contained conversations with people through emails, who came into my life during those four years. Some of those conversations were heated and hated, but some were also tender and kind. But beneath them all, laughter abounds. For I write my column primarily for fun . . . meant only to be read by friends and comrades, and fellow Barakos. If at times I get corny, or my Pilipino English gets atrocious, they are puns intended, untended, and unintended, as in “batu-batu sa langit, tamaan ’wag magagalit.” For my mainstream readers and friends, that means, “stones-stones thrown up in the air, don’t get mad if they fall on your hair.” As y’all can see, I am a wanna-be humorist, dyoking a lot. Some stories in this book also contained glimpses of my personal life, portions of which, are also hilariously funny, but tender and expressing love in places. Okey ngarud, happy reading, Dear Readers. JJ

This book leaves out the likelihood that many readers of Jesse Jose also like the way he writes. My Best and Most-Hated are both extremes. Where best lies is where many of his admirers are; those who smile at every wry comment he makes whenever he finds reason to do so, which is hardly rare. Most-hated would be a welcome avenue for those seeking to vent their dislike and contempt for this man who commands a big following in online media for all his irreverent commentaries. Bounding the most hated into a volume with the best provides a balance, an insight. And it is in that balance where we see the man behind the bottomless cups of Kapeng Barako. The stuff he writes about are fairly everyday occurrence. It is in how he writes about them that generates the loudest whispers and the hateful screams. His commentaries aside, Mr. Kapeng Barako is a pleasant guy who is wedged between the best and the hated, easily likable. The book should be a good way to while the time, especially when one cant make up who to like and who to hate; what to like and what to scorn. The book should provide the answer to that dilemma. Romy Marquez, Toronto, Canada-based journalist, Poet and Author This book is worth reading because of the author's unique style of writing ... that a reader is constantly mesmerized regardless of what subject is being told or critiqued. And it doesn't matter whether a reader agrees or disagrees with the author's take on the subject or issue, because it is cleverly written that there is no room between the words to be misunderstood or bored. In the end, the satisfied reader walks away with a smile. -- Ray Burdeos Galveston, Texas The advent of the computer era makes everybody think they can write and opine on everything. Many get the urge, very few are capable. Jesse Jose is capable and adroit in presenting his views on a wide range of topics ... they are meaningful, relevant and cogent. I like the passion and the fire in his columns and the way he tempers his heat with humor. -- "Doc Lee" Lagda Cypress, California

The second installment of the book "The Grothlins."Right after winning 'The Bloody Train," Rem continued with his mission -- to be reunited with his parents. He was successful in finding them but he decided to just love them from behind because he doesn't want them to be in his murder-lusted life. Daryl Ocampo, the head of The Grothlins, spied on him and then used his parents to force him to accept the assassination jobs, which also a coincidence with his mother having a grave sickness that needed expensive medication.Rem followed. His spirit was shattered into pieces. He became loyal. He was turned into a diamond -- hard but precious. On the good light, he was able to give his family the life they deserve even though they didn't know where to whom it came.Rem's obedience was not enough. He was assassinated. However, good people intervened. He later joined them.When Rem was about to avenge his life the legal way, he found out that The Grothlins have already crawled his family's life.

Filipino food is having its moment. Sour, sweet, funky, fatty, bright, rich, tangy, bold—no wonder adventurous eaters like Anthony Bourdain consider Filipino food “the next big thing.” But so do more mainstream food lovers—Vogue declares it “the next great American cuisine.” Filipinos are the second-largest Asian population in America, and finally, after enjoying Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese food, we’re ready to embrace Filipino food, too. Written by trailblazing restaurateurs Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad, I Am a Filipino is a cookbook of modern Filipino recipes that captures the unexpected and addictive flavors of this vibrant and diverse cuisine. The techniques (including braising, boiling, and grilling) are simple, the ingredients are readily available, and the results are extraordinary. There are puckeringly sour adobos with meat so tender you can cut it with a spoon, along with other national dishes like kare-kare (oxtail stew) and kinilaw (fresh seafood dressed in coconut milk and ginger). There are Chinese-influenced pansit (noodle dishes) and lumpia (spring rolls); Arab-inflected cuisine, with its layered spicy curries; and dishes that reflect the tastes and ingredients of the Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans who came to the Philippines and stayed. Included are beloved fried street snacks like ukoy (fritters), and an array of sweets and treats called meryenda. Filled with suitably bold and bright photographs, I Am a Filipino is like a classic kamayan dinner—one long, festive table piled high with food. Just dig in!

From the author of The Devil Took Her comes a collection of ten fresh tales of horror. A South Island road trip turns murderous as a dangerous drifter smells a secret in her co-dependent pal. Millionaire Kiwi conservationists learn too late how little Mother Nature cares for mankind. A Far North teen confronts the terrifying truth about why Mum separated from Dad years ago. In his most powerful collection yet, Botur challenges you to look at life through the lens of horror. Struggling to bond with a savage stepchild, losing your son to a gang of ghostly boys, doing desperate things to get famous, battling bullies, surviving school, chasing elite status in the medical world, and getting good with God. With a unique flavour of New Zealand, the stories in BLOODALCOHOL are bittersweet, horrifying, tender – and astonishingly original.

A sequel to the spellbinding sci-fi spiritual saga,MOON DAUGHTER'S REVERIES...THE APOCALYPSE,this book takes action right in Wuhan,China where the very ill visionary woman scribe,Emily Archangel is secretly hidden by the Armies of Light in an old asylum that houses the half-dead victims of the first wave of the Corona virus.St. Michael Archangel returns back to the planet to rescue his beloved from the devil disguised as a Hooded Dragon statesman and from a mad billionaire physicist,David Cheng who is as obsessed with the woman scribe.The captain archangel escapes from heaven and so,punished by God that he takes the persona of a convicted serial killer,the most handsome Prussian,Richard Lion Houdershell.As Earth is in the ultimate lockdown,Emily Archangel must secure God's postcript to save the planet from a nuclear apocalypse.A Yellow Fish lands into the plate of the very sick woman scribe one lovely December morning,and heaven's code does the spectacular fireworks right in the cradle of the Yellow virus,the Middle Kingdom,China,unsuspecting of the upbeat divine comedy of God the Father drinking Yellow tea and enjoying Mandarin pancakes.Planet Earth has never prepared for heaven's modern fiction.

A collection of Filipino expats’ reminiscences–especially during the writers’ growing-up-into-adulthood years–primarily of home and hometown, but having Filipino cooking as the unifying thread: favorite dishes and native delicacies, family recipes and food rituals, favorite watering holes and memorable eating places anywhere in the Philippines.

In this heartwarming and charming debut from Tif Marcelo, a food truck chef and her long lost Army love clash when they cross paths in San Francisco. Camille Marino has got a full plate. As the sole guardian of her eighteen-year-old sister and the head chef and owner of a food truck, she’s used to life being a juggling act. With food to cook, social media accounts to manage, and a little sister to look after, she doesn’t have time for much else. That is, until Drew Bautista walks back into her life. Drew is Camille’s former high school crush and he returns to San Francisco to repair his relationship with his father before he ships out for deployment. By helping his father renovate his failing Filipino restaurant, he hopes to win back his respect. But when sparks fly between Drew and Camille—his father’s major competition and sworn enemy—Drew is conflicted. Should he join his father in the war against her food truck? Or surrender to the woman who’s given him a second chance at love?

How do you trust and let yourself be comforted by the idea that the sun and the moon give out equal brilliance? On the brink of a crumbling marriage, Kate Pineda-McDowell runs away from the only life she has ever known—straight into the heart of the Philippines where her estranged father lives. As she waits for her connecting flight from Tokyo to Manila, she meets Liam Walker, whose disquieting stares express deeper things than his reluctant words. Unbeknownst to both, their chance meeting circles back to a closely linked past that holds little hope for new beginnings. Shortly after arriving in Manila, Kate finds herself drawn to seek out Liam. In a span of a few magical days, what began as a spark ignites into an electric affair that compels Liam to let someone into his silent world while Kate confronts her heartbreaking sorrows. But falling for each other means opening old wounds and revealing their most intimate yearnings. Emotionally gripping and endearingly hopeful, A Hundred Silent Ways examines the many different paths people take to obtain a second chance at happiness while asking the most heartrending question of all: How much are we willing to endure to keep love alive?