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

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.

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 amazing novel that introduced Nick and Charlie from HEARTSTOPPER -- and the unforgettable Tori Spring. Tori Spring isn't sure how to be happy again. Then she meets Michael Holden, and they try to unmask the mysterious Solitaire (and survive high school) in Alice Oseman's stunning, unflinchinghonest debut novel, which first introduced her fan-favorite Heartstopper characters Nick and Charlie.

THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT SELF-SABOTAGE. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it-for good. Coexisting but conflicting needs create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile. But by extracting crucial insight from our most damaging habits, building emotional intelligence by better understanding our brains and bodies, releasing past experiences at a cellular level, and learning to act as our highest potential future selves, we can step out of our own way and into our potential. For centuries, the mountain has been used as a metaphor for the big challenges we face, especially ones that seem impossible to overcome. To scale our mountains, we actually have to do the deep internal work of excavating trauma, building resilience, and adjusting how we show up for the climb. In the end, it is not the mountain we master, but ourselves.

For fans of Love, Simon and I Wish You All the Best, a funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of a girl who realizes that love can be found in many ways that don't involve sex or romance. From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it's okay if you don't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone . . . since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection. This is the funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of Georgia, who doesn't understand why she can't crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She's surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It's not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum -- coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic. Disrupting the narrative that she's been told since birth isn't easy -- there are many mistakes along the way to inviting people into a newly found articulation of an always-known part of your identity. But Georgia's determined to get her life right, with the help of (and despite the major drama of) her friends.

Basketball has always been his one love, until now . . . Zeke Armstrong never imagined he’d be back in Vermont, but here he is, living in Colebury and trying to rehab an injury that could mean an early retirement from pro basketball. Running into his former classmate, Mallory Barrett, shouldn’t be a distraction. It shouldn’t mean anything, so why is he accidentally on purpose showing up at the coffee shop where the beautiful writer spends her time? Mallory Barrett has met a guy. Well, she hasn’t met him yet, except for on the dating app she almost refused to download. “Coby” sparks her interest and gets her jokes--and gives the romance-novel heroes she loves so much a full-court run for their money. When their first date doesn’t work out, she decides to give him another shot . . . just as a man she despises reenters her life. While her interest in the mystery man on the app grows, she clashes constantly with Zeke in real life. She can’t forgive him for humiliating her in high school, yet she can’t deny she’s drawn to him now. She’s somehow gone from confirmed bachelorette to the tie-breaker between two men. Meanwhile Zeke has a secret--one that will cost him the game if Mallory finds out . . . *** Doubletalk is a stand-alone novel in the Busy Bean series of Sarina Bowen's World of True North! Stop in for coffee and romance. Java isn't the only thing brewing around here... *** For fans of: Sarina Bowen, True North, Emily Henry, Marie Force, Piper Rayne, Kendall Ryan, Amanda Siegrist, Devney Perry, Carrie Ann Ryan, Rebecca Yarros, Chelle Bliss, Sarah Mayberry, L.B. Dunbar, J.H. Croix, Rebecca Norrine, Lisa Hughey, Erin Wright, BJ Daniels, Kate Pearce, Cora Seton, Vivian Arend, JH Croix, Jennifer Ryan, Diana Palmer, Elle James, Corinne Michaels, Kelly Hunter, Amy Andrews, Lori Wild, Sinclair Jayne, Jeannie Watt, Kristen Callihan, Jane Porter. Search terms: Busy Bean, True North World, World of True North, forbidden romance, contemporary romance, Vermont romance, Sarina Bowen's World of True North, coffee shop romance.

Simple and effective techniques for quickly estimating virtually anything Guesstimation 2.0 reveals the simple and effective techniques needed to estimate virtually anything—quickly—and illustrates them using an eclectic array of problems. A stimulating follow-up to Guesstimation, this is the must-have book for anyone preparing for a job interview in technology or finance, where more and more leading businesses test applicants using estimation questions just like these. The ability to guesstimate on your feet is an essential skill to have in today's world, whether you're trying to distinguish between a billion-dollar subsidy and a trillion-dollar stimulus, a megawatt wind turbine and a gigawatt nuclear plant, or parts-per-million and parts-per-billion contaminants. Lawrence Weinstein begins with a concise tutorial on how to solve these kinds of order of magnitude problems, and then invites readers to have a go themselves. The book features dozens of problems along with helpful hints and easy-to-understand solutions. It also includes appendixes containing useful formulas and more. Guesstimation 2.0 shows how to estimate everything from how closely you can orbit a neutron star without being pulled apart by gravity, to the fuel used to transport your food from the farm to the store, to the total length of all toilet paper used in the United States. It also enables readers to answer, once and for all, the most asked environmental question of our day: paper or plastic?

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A brilliantly plotted psychological crime novel about a missing child and the scandal that erupts in the aftermath with a shocking twist They know who did it. Perhaps not consciously. Perhaps not yet. But they know. When eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanishes from her family’s Oxford home during a costume party, Detective Inspector Adam Fawley knows that nine times out of ten, the offender is someone close to home. And Daisy’s family is certainly strange—her mother is obsessed with keeping up appearances, while her father is cold and defensive under questioning. And then there’s Daisy’s little brother, so withdrawn and uncommunicative . . . DI Fawley works against the clock to find any trace of the little girl, but it’s as if she disappeared into thin air—no one saw anything; no one knows anything. But everyone has an opinion, and everyone, it seems, has a secret to conceal. With a story that feels all too real, Close to Home is the best kind of suspense—the kind that sends chills down your spine and keeps you up late at night, thrilled and terrified.

A notorious serial killer is back An edgy female police detective. An ambitious FBI special agent. Together they are at the heart of the ticking-clock investigation into a psychopathic murderer. The bond they forge in this crucible sets the stage for high-stakes suspense. Detective Kara Quinn is on an early morning jog in Liberty Lake when she discovers the body of a young nurse. The manner of death reveals a highly controlled rage. Word quickly reaches FBI special agent Matt Costa that this murder fits the profile of the elusive Triple Killer, who compulsively strikes every three years, targeting three victims, each three days apart. This time they have a chance to stop him. But only if they can decipher the meaning of his pattern to figure out who he is and where he is hiding before he strikes again. The stakes have never been higher, because if they fail, one of their own team may be next… Don’t miss THE MISSING WITNESS, the brand-new page-turning thriller from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan! A Quinn & Costa Thriller Book 1: The Third to Die Book 2: Tell No Lies Book 3: The Wrong Victim Book 4: Seven Girls Gone Book 5: The Missing Witness