First Online Shopping Experience and Medical Books

There are so many online stores in the world wide web and many times have I wanted to buy something yet my cautiousness told me not to. I finally ordered something online when I decided to buy second-hand medical books to save money. Books used by medical students are really pricey if bought brand new!

Jill, mom, and I scoured for prices of second hand books in Recto a few weeks ago. We only bought two books: Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton 11th ed and Harper’s Illustrated Biochemistry 25th ed. The Physiology book was a great find since it's the newest edition and a new book costs about P3350 in bookstores and Jill got it for only P2200. It's also in great condition and it seems that the previous owner did not read it much. Hopefully, we'll be able to read a lot more! The newest edition of our biochemistry book is 28th so Jill's copy is three editions back. A new book costs a little above P1400 and Jill got the second-hand 25th edition book for P500.

We don't plan to buy an atlas for Anatomy anymore since Janelle has a Netter's atlas which Jill and I will share since we're probably going to be classmates. Our youngest sister also has a Histology bookthat we can use. Brief recap: Jill still lacks an Anatomy and Neuroanatomy book.

Now to my finds...

Jill and I looked online for other books since we need a set of books each. Other not so necessary books, we'll try to share. I was very fortunate to come across an ad in sulit offering various second hand medical books at cheap prices. I contacted the owner and after clearing it with mom, placed my order. The only snags in this first time shopping was that the doctor selling the books was very busy and was not able to reply right away at times because of her time schedule. When I was finally able to deposit the payment (Wednesday afternoon), the seller had them sent the day after and I received it the next day (Friday).

The books were in good condition. The original owner really read them (basing on the highlights) but was very careful with the books. There are no tears, wrinkles or anything of that sort. I hope I could take care of the books as well as her and also that I would read them and put them to good use.

Anyways, it was great that my first online shopping was favorable. I wasn't duped  by the seller. I wasn't disappointed with the products. I am very happy with my purchase and savings. Before I forget, one thing I don't like about buying stuff online is the expensive shipping fee. The fee for the five books I bought was P750. They were heavy though, but still.

Here are the list of books I was able to buy and their prices.
Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology 10th ed (newest ed is 11th) P1500
Junquierra's Basic Histology: Text and Atlas with CD 10th ed (newest ed is 12th) P500
Harper’s Illustrated Biochemistry 26th ed (newest ed is 28th) P500
Snell's Clinical Anatomy by Regions 7th ed (newest ed is 8th) P600
Snell's Clinical Neuroanatomy for Medical Students 5th ed. ((newest ed is 7th) P500

The books' total cost is P3600 and there P750 for the shipping so altogether that's P4350. The good doctor discounted it further (I asked even if I knew it was already a good price) and the final payment was only P3800. Hurray for a great find and for such a generous doctor. She also gave freebies in the form of powerpoint presentations and lectures in a DVD. God bless you, Dr. Chette.

I saved a whole lot which can be used for other necessary things for school. The estimated costs for those five books (new edition prices) would be P12000+. Yes, medical school is THAT EXPENSIVE. I just pray we'd be able to find good books that are inexpensive for Jill and for our future years in school.

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

I borrowed Kate's Lord of the Rings book set this summer since I've wanted to read the novel for a long time. I've read Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis before and I loved them. All three are fantasy books and since Lewis and Tolkien were friends in their day, I thought that I would also enjoy reading Lord of the Rings. I obviously did.

I didn't start reading the books right away though. I was brushing up on Anatomy then and followed that by reading Edith Hamilton's mythology. I tried reading the first book and there was a boring prologue which dissuaded me from continuing. I finally started when Jill started to read the books and said they were good and the boring parts were only in the beginning and some parts of the journey.

 The tale follows the Ring of Power created by the dark lord, Sauron. The ring comes into the hands of a hobbit and he must destroy it to save Middle Earth. He is helped by friends from different kinds of peoples (hobbits, men, elves, dwarves, wizard).

A common misconception about the Lord of the Rings is that it's a trilogy when it's really a novel usually published in three volumes and divided into seven books. The three volumes have two books each and the seventh comprises the appendices. The first volume is about the Fellowship of the Ring which are the nine characters from different peoples in Middle Earth. The second is the Two Towers and these towers are probably Orthanc, Saruman's fortress and Minas Morgul, Sauron's lair. This volume is divided in such a way that one book follows Frodo to his quest to Mount Doom while the other concentrate on other members of the fellowship. The last volume involves the Return of the King wherein the climax of the whole novel is reached. The king it speaks of is the rightful king of Gondor, Isildur's Heir.

Why is that one ring so damn important? It can be used by its owner, Sauron, to rule all of Middle Earth because it has power over the other rings of power. Below is an excerpt from Lord of the Rings.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
  Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
  Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
  One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
  In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
  One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
  One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
  In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy novel. Tolkien created a world entirely his own. He drew maps, created new languages and letters. There were even different languages and names for places and people according to each kind. It confused me a bit. If you like fantasy, you should try reading this classic. It's a bit long and there are parts that seem to be draggy. It would be a more difficult read than both Harry Potter and Narnia since these two can stand alone while Lord of the Rings is a continuous story.

Jill and I also finished watching the movies. It so long! It's not even the extended edition. Length aside, all three movies are great. I was just disappointed that Faramir and Eowyn's part was cut from the last movie. I also wasn't a big fan of the additional scenes and changing up the who-did-whats from books to movies. I never am a big fan of that. One example is the sparing of Grima, who in the books was spared by Theoden while in the movies it was Aragorn who stopped the king from hurting him. I really don't fancy changing the personality of the characters. In the books, I liked that Theoden was a kindly king and also of Faramir's wisdom and judgement. if you're in a movie-watching mood, watch the movies (again, if you've seen it before) if you have lots of time to spare. ;)

Dumbledore Quotes

These are from Mugglenet. If I read the books again and come across a good passage which isn't here, I'll include them.
[Edit: Added more from various sites]


To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.

It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.

Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.

You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.

It’s the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more

It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated.

There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.

We must try not to sink beneath our anguish, Harry, but battle on.

Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.

It is my belief... that the truth is generally preferable to lies.

Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.

Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.

We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward.

People find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right.

Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.

I love the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I really want to reread the books for the nth time but feel that there's so much more that I need to read instead of them (since I've read the books loads of times already).

I'll be posting quotes I like from the books and maybe some from the movies.

The following are taken from a site that has a collection of quotes.

It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up. -J.K. Rowling, "The Hungarian Horntail," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000

If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. ~J.K. Rowling, "Padfoot Returns," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Sirius Black

It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more. ~J.K. Rowling, "The Cave," Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2005, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

Curiosity is not a sin.... But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... yes, indeed. ~J.K. Rowling, "The Pensieve," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

I think I'll organize these into those that can be understood even out of the Harry Potter world and those particular to HP. The movie quotes would be separated too. Gosh, how I love HP. I wish JK would start on the encyclopedia already.

Books

I'm thinking I should go back to reading. I used to read a lot when I was younger and I'm not really sure why that stopped. I still read every once in a while but there are so many books and stories I'd like to peruse. I've wanted to buy Count of Monte Cristo for the longest time and now that there's a copy at Powerbooks, I don't want to spend my money on it. Gaaah. Luckily, I found a site where there are copies of the books. I think most are classics although I am not sure. I guess while I'm in the thrifty mood (because I need to save at least 600 a month), I'll just bear reading online even if I prefer reading a real book instead of an E-book. The site is http://manybooks.net/

*Cough*my birthday's coming up!*cough* Hahahaha.

Hopefully, before starting medschool (and I want to start on June 2010!) I can read five fiction books. :)

I'll just enumerate the books I plan to read for my reference.

1. Sidney Sheldon book/s - borrow from Vicky
2. Lord of the Rings - borrow from Kate
3. How to Kill a Mockingbird - borrow from Mon
4. Count of Monte Cristo

[edit] Sherlock Holmes - DONE. I love love love Sherlock Holmes.


Merry Christmas!