Just Me

I am officially carless for the next three hours or so until the mechanics change my car tires. Thanks to my uncle and aunt who sold me this crappy car, I almost die twice in a year. The first happened with the brakes. For the life of me, I just don't understand why the don't change the freaking brakes for TEN YEARS AKA THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME THEY OWNED THE CAR! But that's not why I'm pissed. Its their cat, their lives so if they don't want to take care of it, fine with me. And hey, I'm not asking them to change the brakes for me, all I wanted was for them to please kindly tell me what the hell they didn't do/fix so I can do them myself!!

But no, they were all "omg, its still good. There no problem with it blah blah..."

The next time I went to the mechanics they told me e brakes were used all the way to tje bones, the very last layer of whatever it is that uses friction to stop the car when you brake. Yeah, that thing. Gone. Which means I have been pretty much going without brakes. No wonder whenver I do brake, the car made this groaning noise that sounded like someone is shoving a spatula down another's throat.

Today, well I have already said it, my car tire exploded. Granted I run over the curb but there was no excuse to why the ONE INCH THICK tire could just ripped like paper!!!

I wish I have taken a pic of the tire. It was one huge rip its unreal....


So there you have it. The the reason why I'm sitting in a public street waiting for my dad to pick me up the waited for another TWO hours before coming back to this place to pick my car up before going to buy food for my family and then some dish washing...

Why oh why do all the bad things keep happening to me?? And oh, I still have some more ranting to do but my dads here so Ill save it for some other occasion. Maybe tonight.

LINGER by MAGGIE STEIFVATER
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Date of Publication: July 13, 2010
Summary:

Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

Fact: when I first bought this book, I thought it- like Linger- will be a heart-felt love story. Well, I was only partially right.

I don't think I have ever read young adult novel more beautifully written than Linger. I could feel the emotions for each character. LINGER unlike, SHIVER is a lot more serious and... well, sad. It dwells into the true meaning of love and loss.

In this book, Maggie tells more about Sam, his family, his life before he turned into a wolf, and especially the pain and the joy after he had regained his human form. Likewise, Grace in this book develops into a new person, more daring... more brave to do what she wants instead of listening to her parents and live quietly like she has always done all her life.

Cole, the new character, I think, is the most broken of all. A celebrity, famous and rich, he has everything he wants with a flick of his finger. Yet he has made too many mistakes in his life and tries to run away from it. Telling from four different points of views, the book tells how each of the characters, Sam, Grace, Cole and Isabel tries to cope with their personal problems.

The one thing I love the most about this book is how the characters are portrayed. I think LINGER has more emotions and feelings than action. And I love that. I want to be in people's heads and know what they are thinking and how it affect their lives.

*******Spoiler******
When Grace is dying, I could feel the pent up emotions Sam, the pain, the fear... everything with him even addresing it once. There was no tears, no hysterics in Sam's or even Grace's part yet somehow Maggie perfectly captures the horror of slowly painfully watching the one you love slipping away from you.

Not many books can affect me emotionally there has only been one. But reading LINGER, I feel the pain, the frustration, the fear... so much I wanted to hit something to vent the emotions out!
****End of Spoiler***


LINGER is a great read. I'd recommend it to everyone. However, be warned that LINGER's theme is rather heavy and depressing for readers under 13.

LINGER TRAILER:

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THE LAST HELLION by Loretta Chase
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date of Publication: April 1998
Book Description:

A ferocious conflict of wills...

Vere Mallory, the Duke of Ainswood, has everything--he's titled, he's rich, he's devastatingly good looking--and he seems determined to throw it all away. Disreputable, reckless, and wild, the last of the Mallory hellions is racing headlong to self-destruction...until a mind numbingly beautiful blonde Amazon knocks him off his feet--literally.

An incendiary passion...

Lydia Grenville is dedicated to protecting London's downtrodden. Dissolute noblemen like Ainswood are part of the problem, not the solution. She would like him to get his big, gorgeous carcass out of her way so that she can carry on with her work. The problem is, Ainswood can no more resist a challenge, especially in female form, than he can resist the trouble she seems to attract.

If they can only weather their personal firestorm...
they might survive the real danger that threatens all they hold dear.

This book is well on my list of "favorite books of all time." I can't seem to find a single negative thing to say about this book... well, maybe except the part that she smokes. Once or twice when the situation requires since Lydia is a journalist therefore has to mingle on bars to seek for information.

Loretta does a splendid job is always with the conversation and the shocking twist at the end.

The chemistry between the characters sound real and not forceful like other books that I have read, not to mention that the heat from their passion alone sizzles the pages. I found myself laugh out loud, frown, and gasp as their relationship progresses. The part that really capture my attention is their relationship. Neither of them knows how to deal with marriage, especially Vere- he doesn't even think beyond the wedding night, but they are willing to stick together and sort things out. Just like how people would do in real life. I found that fascinating since most of romance books I read ends in a marriage. This book starts with one.

I'd recommend this book to all those who love romance and virgins.

HUSH, HUSH by BECCA FITZPATRICK

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

First glance, gorgeous, gorgeous cover, not only that the real cover is even more gorgeous with its glittery surface.

With the intention of giving no spoilers I'll have to make this very short because if I babble on I'm going to give everything away. The thing I love most about this book is the conversations. They sound very realistic. I found Patch's lines, though short, completely capture the reader's attention. Patch is portrayed as a bad boy and hides a dark secrete. The author does well by using words such as "a hint of a smile played on his lips" or "a small grin" but never let Patch actually smiles.

Nora on the other hand is an ordinary girl, who I can very much relate to. First is because she cares about her grades and never give too much thoughts about boys. That's me. Or at least that's how I think I am. I also found Nora and admirable character. Instead of succumbing to Patch's charm, she tries to figure him out. She tries to resist and keep a straight head.

The chemistry between them is... just... sizzling. I haven't read a YA book makes me toes curl like this one before. Most of time, YA books have very little chemistry between both characters. I guess that's how authors keep them PG-13 (?), often time I have to read more than 1/3 of the book for them to even meet a second time. Not with HUSH, HUSH. It has enough of romance to keep me go "awww...." and wanting to read more.

And I love how there are feathers printed randomly on the pages. It's cute!

The only thing I'm not so agreeable about this book is that Nora and Patch fall in love a little too fast. Through out the book, Nora keeps thinking that he's wrong, he's not good for me, I can't be near him, he scares the wits about of me. But near the end of the book, it rushes to say that Patch is in love with her. Sure, he flirts with her, but he... I don't know, I just find that there is not enough evidence that really shows he is in love with her. He might be interested in her more than other females but in love... ? That's a little too quick.

I wish Becca had write more about their first kiss. After all, it is Nora's first kiss. But oh well.

I still love it. Can't wait til the next book!

I'd recommend this book to EVERYONE.

and oh, let's not forget the trailer!

CRACKING THE AP BIOLOGY EXAM 2010 EDITION - THE PRINCETON REVIEW

Finally! I've been dying to do this although for some reason life keeps getting in the way.

The first thing I'd like to say about this book is its thickness... or lack thereof, to be exactly. The AP Biology book might as well be the second lightest of all the Princeton Review books right after the AP Psy. Nonetheless, it is the LIGHTEST of all the AP Bio prep books that I've had my hands on. The one for Barron's is HUGE but no more informative.

This book presents the information in a logical order going form the big picture to the small details. Looking the index alone can prove that.

But the one thing I LOVE LOVE LOVE about this book is that it SHOWS you how to memorize stuff. I remember a chapter about human anatomy in which you have to memorize all the hormones and what they do... Other books (I've read 4 different ap prep book on the anatomy sections) just tell you what they do and expect you to memorize everything from scratch. I mean, at the time, sure. But remember, the ap exam is not just about the human hormones. They can't expect people to memorize stuff out of the blue, especially stuff you're likely to not use AT ALL in real life. That's when this book helps because it shows you mnemonics to memorize.

GATOR PIT is how you're supposed to memorize the hormones like AHD, LH, FSH... How, you'll have to read the book and know.

When I read this book, I feel like I'm actually LISTENTING to someone talking to me instead of reading the dry and coarse words. I feel like they understand student's pains of having to memorize the stuff and try to understand or at least memorize as much as they can.

And oh, let's not forget about the quizzes at the end of each chapter. For some reason, THAT is so rare in other books. I did a review wayyy back about chem and I have to say only 2/5 ap chem books I had have the quizzes. Is it too hard to think of 5 questions for each chapter? I think not.

On the other hand, I would say that although informative, the quizzes at the end of the chapter for AP BIO are not as great. Often times there are questions about info. that is not presented in the chapter which leads to confusion. In addition, even if you get the answers right, I'd suggest you go to the answer page and look at the explanation. More often than not, the explanation gives you more detail on that particular area. I think Princeton could have done better given the fact that this book is still very thin.

In the end, it is the fact that reading this book got me a 5 on the AP exam. I remember having TWO questions on the ap exam that are exactly like the info present in the book. Needless to say I was thrilled because all I had to do is write down the info I've already memorized well (I'm a bit of a visual learner myself).

I wanted to do a review about AP Physics but unfortunately I didn't use the princeton book for Physics; our teacher asked us to use another green cover book which was printed in 2005. It was a big mistake. A VERY BIG MISTAKE because I got a 4 on the ap exam but I feel like I haven't learned anything in that class.

If you have to get one thing about of this loooooong review this is it:

If you're a high school student and you're taking ap classes. I don't care what it is and who teaches you, please please please stick with the Princeton Reviews. I promise you won't be disappointed.

That is, if you actually try.

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