iPad: The Blog Killer

Two months ago, I bought my iPad, which is around the same time my last entry was posted. Do you see the connection? Every day I drove to work thinking that I will post something from my iPad today. However, every time I get a hold of my iPad, I am either reading, playing games, reading news...doing everything but blogging. Today morning I made a decision that I will write an entry the old school way - on my computer :)

After my rant, I am sure you have figured out why the title of the blog is "iPad: The Blog Killer."

Here is what all I have on my iPad:

1. Books: I uploaded tons of books on the iPad. I downloaded the apps iBooks, Kindle and Nook. I have used both iBooks and Kindle. All the classics books are free online. On top of that, Amazon has tons of free books, which include Tagore and historical non-fictions about India. I really liked the ability to highlight and comment on text and look up words in the dictionary while you are reading.

2. Games: I downloaded tons of games. The best ones are Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds, Sudoku, and Mahjong. What can I say? I am a nerd at heart.

3. Music: I love listening to music when I am doing chores around the house and having them on my iPad is definitely a plus. These two music apps, Shazam and SoundHound, recognize songs. It has happened many times when I have listened to a song on the radio and did not know the singer/band/album. Now I just record 30 seconds of it and let these apps figure out the song. It is awesome!!!

4. Photo editing apps: I am a sucker for photo shop and having the apps that make it easier definitely makes the whole iPad fun.

5. Other apps: I have news apps, entertainment apps (StumbleUpon), and social apps (Facebook and Twitter)

As you can tell, I love my iPad. Now if I can just find some cool noise-cancelling headphones :)

On to the books: I have read many books since my last book post. I am too lazy to talk too much about any of them.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bend - 5/10 - Some books start off good but leave a bitter taste in your mouth at the end. This was definitely one of those.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Audio Book) - 9/10 - This book is among the good books I read this year.

What is This Thing Called Love? by Gene Wilder  - 7/10

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Audio Book) - 10/10 - I am a fan of Neil Gaiman and love everything by him. This book was not an exception. I loved it. The book is actually based on the BBC show called "Neverwhere."

Serious Men by Manu Joseph - 9/10 - This was an excellent book. I felt this was better than The White Tiger.

I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (Audio Book) - 7/10 - I am still so confused about the ending. If anybody knows what happened at the end, please let me know.

The Arabian Nights (Children version) - 10/10- I missed lots of stories but at the same time, the book brought back childhood memories. I remember reading Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves in grade school and some other stories. Someday I want to pick up the unabridged version of The Arabian Nights.

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koslow (Audio Book) - 8/10 - It is a chic lit - enjoyable.

Arranged Marriage by Chitra Divakaruni - 8/10 - I was so looking forward to Chitra Divakaruni's Arranged Marriage. It was good; however, I must warn you, the stories are depressing.

London is the Best City in America by Laura Dave (Audio Book) - 8/10 - Another chic lit- enjoyable.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok - 9.5/10 - This was a really good book.

The story deals with Asian American emigration experience. Kim, who immigrated to America, has to balance between work life (she is underage) and school life. She works to help her mother and make ends meet. It is really a touching story.

The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession  by David Grann (Audio Book) - 8/10 - There are some topics that just appeal to me, and Sherlock Holmes is one of them. I have never read any of the mysteries but the books are definitely on my list. This book deals with real life events of "murder, madness, and obsession." I would listen to the stories and then check online afterwards for the full stories and the current status. I felt some stories did not relate; thus, I am giving it an 8. I highly recommend this book, along with other book that I rated above 7.

I read few more but I will talk about them in a separate posts.

I signed up the Audio Book Challenge last year. I chose the obsessed level, which was listening to 20 audio books. I had listened to 16 audio books before I took a hiatus. This post has five audio books, which puts me at 21 audio books. I just finished The M-factor, another audio book and will start The Hunger Games tomorrow. The total for this year is 23 audio books. I am done with the challenge. Yay!!!! This was fun. I am going to sign up again and will make a separate post.

P.S. I got my CPA license.