Category: Books

I read a lot of books but I don’t seem to blog about them.  I’ve written a few reviews but they are mostly because I had the time to write or the authors were my friends. Read More

Let me start by saying that I’m not a biggest fan of Liz Uy. But hey, I don’t know the person. When I heard about her book, I never planned to get myself one. I was just not interested… However, my best friend bought her book and offered to lend it to me. I took the opportunity as I have nothing to lose anyway. I might get a few tips. 

I just finished reading the book today.  It took me an hour to browse through all the fabulous photos and informative content.  I was impressed by this book!  Liz Uy definitely published a great book, her first one, which is worthy of a buy!

Here are five reasons why I love styLIZed by Liz Uy:

1. It’s organized.  I love how she teaches us what she knows about fashion by breaking it down with ten basic items we should have in our closet.
2. It’s informative.  I learned so many things by reading styLized!  Things that got stuck to my mind are having your own personal style, reinventing old clothing, choosing the right fit for you, accessorizing the button down shirt, and leggings dos & don’ts.
3. It’s beautiful to look at.  I just adore the different outfits displayed in the book!  I wish I can reapply some of those styles for myself.  I already have some of them in my Pinterest for future reference.
4. It’s encouraging.  It came to a point that I’m willing to revamp my closet.  I planned to revisit my wardrobe this week and probably get myself some new clothes.  I will make sure that I apply the lessons from the book so I get the right clothing for myself 🙂
5. It’s stylish.  It’s quite surprising that some clothing when mixed together actually works.  One of the things that I struggle all the time is to choose which bag and shoes to match my outfits.  There were a whole bunch of ideas in the book which helped me with my dilemma.  I’m really excited to try them and finally be truly stylish! 
   

image by Summit Media

I now have appreciation of Liz Uy’s work.  I love the book, and I think was quite effective that I actually plan to get myself those ten essential items for myself.  The Php 395 price tag is super worth it for the valuable fashion lessons you can get from the book.

I’ve always admired Randell Tiongson with his passion for finance.  Having attended a couple of his seminars proved that.  It’s pretty easy to understand what message he was trying to pass around because he wasn’t there to impress.  The way I see it is that he was there to help his audience achieve a good way to manage their finances (i.e., financial education).  I knew that when Randell Tiongson finally published a book on Personal Finance, people who got themselves a copy will be enlightened with tons of lessons.  I, myself, after reading the book immediately went through my goals list and added a section on finance.

Reading the book felt like having a finance expert to talk to you.  It seemed like he read our mind.  In all honesty, I’m still struggling hard with my finances.  The No Nonsense Personal Finance book by Randell Tiongson helped me gather my thoughts and follow a specific process in order to get out of that dilemma.

Basically, Randell’s book focuses on 5 steps in achieving financial peace in our lives.

1. Improving Cash Flow
2. Getting Out of Debt
3. Setting up Your Emergency Fund
4. Getting Protected from Life’s Risks
5. Investing For Your Future

The author explained what personal finance is all about and stressed that there is no shortcut in achieving personal security.  He went on to explain the whole process and each step with easy to understand concepts, examples, & real experiences.

At the end of each chapter, he posted his friends’ thoughts about the steps.  I liked the way that he presented all the information in the book.  It’s really not only about his personal thoughts on finance but also sharing tips from other people so that we get more perspective about the topic.

Being a Christian myself, I appreciate Randell Tiongson showed his faith and love to the Lord in the book.  It just proved that this book was made with a lot of heart and sincerity.

So many aha moments (e.g., emergency funds should be 3-6 months worth of expenses, 70/30 is the earning-spending ratio, and prioritise spending in needs & control splurging on wants) in this book that I intend to practice in my life.  Like what the author said, knowledge & awareness are useless if you do not put it into practice.

Get Randell Tiongson’s No Nonsense Personal Finance Book at your favourite bookstores at Php 495.00.

Everybody knows that I’m a huge fan of Apple products & softwares.  I use an iPhone, an iPad and a MacBook Pro for personal use.  However, that is not the case when I’m at work.

Last month, I upgraded my Microsoft Office software into MS Office 2010.  I then noticed a new application called Microsoft OneNote 2010.  I never used the application and I totally had zero knowledge about it.  I tried to open it and use it but I felt I need to do something in order to use the application more effectively.

I then scouted for different tutorials online.  One book got my attention — Microsoft OneNote 2010 Plain & Simple by Peter Weverka.  I like it because it’s colorful and easy to understand.  I gave myself time to finish this book in one week.  Last night, I finished reading the book and felt that I’m more equipped in using MS OneNote 2010.

In all honesty, I actually felt OneNote would be my favorite Microsoft application.  Why?  Because I take notes a lot.  I do it during conference calls, when reviewing presentations, reading books and just about any time when I felt I needed to write down my thoughts.

Peter Weverka did an excellent job with the book!  In less than a week, I felt that I already know MS OneNote 2010 inside and out.

Let me share my key takeaways from Microsoft OneNote 2010 Plain & Simple:
These are mainly items I do not want to forget 😉

• Make use of the Notebook-Section-Pages Hierarchy
  • Notebook – file where all information are stored.
  • Section – subcategory of a notebook, used to store pages.
  • Section Group – a way of organizing sections.  you can store sections in a section group and be able to find and manage them easily.
  • Pages & Subpages – a place where notes are recorded.  pages & subpages are stored in sections.
• Create a page from a Template
  • choose a template from the gallery to use on a page
  • create a page template with the text, font, page colour and other preferred specifications
• Revisiting & Restoring a Different Version of a Page
  • OneNote keeps back-copies of pages.  After you open a version of a page, you can restore it, making it the primary copy, or copy it to another section.  You can also opt not to keep page versions in a notebook.
• Password-Protecting a Section
  • in order to search password-protected sections, you must open them first and conduct your search.
  • you cannot assign a password to a section with audio/video recordings.
  • you cannot share password-protected sections with OneNote Web App.
• managing notes
  • paragraph alignment & paragraph spacing
  • move several notes lower on a page by using the Insert Space button
  • entering symbols & unusual characters
  • applying styles to text only works for paragraphs and not individual words or letters.
  • side notes are kept in the Unfiled Notes folder until you can decide where to store it.
  • handwriting notes and converting them to text.
  • ability to collapse/expand outlines
  • attached files are not linked to original versions.  editorial changes won’t appear in the attachment file.
  • inserting file printouts and content from scanner/camera.
  • placing images & screen clipping
  • constructing math equations
  • recording audio and video notes
• Linking to other places in OneNote
  • create links to paragraphs, notes, page, section and notebook
  • squeeze in square brackets [[ page name ]] to create another page link.
  • create links to web pages & files
  • create linked notes to refer to an item you took notes about whether it’s a web page, MS Word document, MS Powerpoint presentation or another OneNote page.
• running & customizing spell check
  • spell checking foreign-language text
  • correcting common misspellings
• Drawing Notes
• Tagging Notes for Follow Up
• Restoring Pages & Sections from the Recycle Bin
• Conducting Research & Translating Text
• Saving Pages, Sections & Notebooks in Alternative File Formats
  • OneNote 2007, MS Word, PDF, XPS, Single File Web Page (*.mht), One Note Package (for notebooks)
• Using OneNote w/ other MS Office 2010 applications
  • opening a page in MS Word
  • copying Ms Outlook information to a page (Email, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks)
• Sharing Notebooks with Others
  • share via Windows Live, Network or Sharepoint Site
  • Finding notes by authors & recent edits
• Using OneNote Web App
  • signing up for Windows Live
  • using SkyDrive folders for storing notebooks
  • inviting others to coauthor a notebook
  • using OneNote Web App in Office 365

The only thing that I didn’t find in Microsoft OneNote 2010 Plain & Simple is a tutorial on the iOS version of MS OneNote & how to share between the desktop version and the iOS one.  However, maybe it’s a different topic altogether or the book might be written before the mobile application went out.

If you’re new to MS OneNote or an experienced user who want to be sure you know all the features of the application, then you have to get the book by Peter Weverka.  Microsoft OneNote 2010 Plain & Simple is a very good investment!  Get it as a Kindle eBook or as paperback.

Manila Bulletin cartoonist and a stand up comedian Stanley Chi has really gone a long way.  I just heard that he made over Php 2 million worth for his books in just one year!  It must be due to his two bestselling Suplado Tips humor book series.  But my golly!  That’s two freakin’ million pesoses!!!  Considering his book only costs less than a Php 100, it definitely says a lot about his success.  It shouldn’t be surprising because my book reviews about Suplado Tips and the follow-up Suplado Tips 2 have many page visits.

That said, Stanley Chi is on the roll!  This time, he launched his newest book, Pogi Points, ‘The not-so-gentleman’s guide to looking good’.  Guess what?  Pogi Points was sold out only a few days after hitting the shelves last September 2012 and has gone reprinting.  Wow!

Pogi Points is a book about being handsome versus looking good.  Basically, it strives to help the love life of guys – despite having average looks.  The book has compiled tips on how to get ahead in love through strategic behavior.  It teaches a naïve boy on how to act around a girl he admires.  Stanley Chi had written Pogi Points in a fun way, using his humor to drive the message across.  Believe me, I’m a girl and those pointers that Chi shared in the book are real and MUST be taken into heart.  The author must have gone through a lot with regards to serenading women, haha!

Here are some of my favorites:

• “Kung nakipag-date ka sa babae at umuwi siya ng maaga, ibig sabihin nun… nagsisisi na siya kung bakit siya pumayag makipag-date sayo!”
• katangian ng mga taong pinupulot sa kangkungan: (1) babaero (2) manyak (3) bastos (4) mayabang at feelingero (5) walang respeto sa babae.
• Pogi Profile –> Confident (kailangan may bilib sa sarili; hassle makipagusap sa lalakeng nagse-self-pity.  Iba ang confident sa mayabang!
• sa date, dapat lalake ang nagbabayad sa bill.  kahit mag-0ffer pa ang girl, huwag mo siyang pagbabayarin.
• kung naging jowa mo na ang babaeng nililigawan mo, maging consistent ka.

Aside from tips on how to score pogi points, the book has photo comic strips featuring Filipino cosplayers, relationship facts, trivia about male looks, how to court religious women, how to court tsinoy women and self-help lists on how to look and feel good.

Here’s what Stanley had to say about Pogi Points:

Ang pagiging gwapo, inborn; ang pagiging pogi, napag-aaralan (Being handsome is inborn; being pogi is something you can learn)

You must be wondering?  What is the difference between Chi’s Suplado Tips series and Pogi Points?  I’ve read all three books.  I must say that Suplado Tips is all about guys being more confident about themselves while Pogi Points is for guys who are in love or in search for the girl of their dreams.  Net, Suplado is to know how to act around people in general while Pogi is to know how to act around the opposite sex.  If you are both ‘suplado’ and ‘pogi’, then you are on your way to be cool (like Stanley, LOL!).

Want to get your hands on the increasingly popular book: Pogi Points?  Then head on over to your favorite bookstore and grab a copy now.  You might thank yourself for that bookstore trip when you get the love of your life!  You even get a bonus of a certificate and a card!