And Then There were None

Source: Alley Theatre Website

Last Sunday (July 31st) we went to watch the play And Then There were None presented by Alley Theatre. The following picture is from the play:

Source: Alley Theatre Website > Photos of the Play

We had really nice seats and could hear and see everything very clearly. The play was 2 hours and 30 minutes long with two intermissions. There was only one stage set-up. Initially, I wondered how they were going to manage because parts of the book take place outside the manor. The play was beautifully done despite the setting limitation. 

Among the four of us, I was the only one who had read the book. I knew what was next. I knew the sequence of the deaths. The ending was changed, which was unexpected. I enjoyed it nonetheless. The novel's ending is definitely better but I understand why it had to be changed for the play.

I think the other three enjoyed the play as well. Two of them have asked me to be on a lookout for other plays. One of them has expressed a desire to see the play Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. I don't think they have that play in US. The play I want to see is Wicked The Musical. Maybe we will see it when we go to New York or London. I know there is a play in Austin next February. Maybe we will catch that one. All I know that I want to watch it soon!!!

I read the book And Then There were None at the beginning of this year and enjoyed it very much. Ever since then, I have been wanting to watch the Bollywood movie, Gumnaam and other adaptations. I think I watched Gumnaam when I was little. I want to re-watch it and find out who the murderer was in the movie. If you have not read the book, what are you waiting for? Go to the nearest bookstore and pick up a copy. If you like to read it online, there are plenty of free legal copies online.

That is it for today. Time to disappear again!

Top Ten Books I'd Like to See Made Into Movies

I first saw this meme on Suey's blog. The Broke and the Bookish is hosting a meme, which asks for top ten books that I would love to see made into movies. Though I firmly believe movies ruin books, I still have a small wish to see the following books be made into movies.

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry - IMDB says that the movie will release in 2011. I have yet to hear more details.
2. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Make the movie already. Instead of making a movie, they made comic books out of the series. I think this will be one of the movies where I am willing to stand up in line at midnight to watch the first show.
3. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella - I think this will be a damn funny movie.
4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - No words. Just waiting for the movie...
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - I am keeping my fingers crossed for whenever they make a movie out of this book, they don't ruin it.
6. The Hunger Games (Book 1) by Suzanne Collins - I know they are making the movie and they already have some cast finalized.
7. Serious Men by Manu Joseph - Okay...this book...I don't know why but I think this will make an excellent movie. I enjoyed the book very much.
8. Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen - I think this will be a cute children's movie. I chucked when I listened to the audio book.
9. A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - This book is like Harry Potter. The differences are that the protagonist is a female and it is a trilogy unlike HP, which is a Heptalogy (had to google that).
10. Life of Pi by Yann Martel - I am very excited about this movie. Tobey Maguire, Irrfan Khan, and Tabu (3 great actors) are part of the cast. Irrfan and Tabu were great in Namesake and I can't wait to see this one.

That's it for now. See ya!

The Hanging Tree

I am listening to Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This morning I listening to the chapter that had the "The Hanging Tree" song and the song is stuck in my head. Here it is:

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Where I told you to run so we’d both be free.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you

Coming to the tree

Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

I am enjoying the book. Since my last post, I have listened/read the following books:

• And Then There were None by Agatha Christie: Excellent book. I can't believe I never read her stuff. Loved the book. I can't wait to get my hands on the movie adaptations of the movie including Bollywood movie Gumnaam. It is a must read book. (10/10)
• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: Another great read. I think there are enough great reviews online.(10/10)
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: I read this on the plane to and back from India. The book is okay. The first book in the series is the best. (8/10)
• Sisters Eight series - Book 3 & 4: Cute children's book.
• Scott Pilgrim Vol 1 & 2. I watched the movie and I must say the movie was quite random. After some research, I found that the movie was based on Scott Pilgrim Manga. I am not a big fan of Manga but I had to pick this one to find out more about the movie. The books are okay.
• Room by Emma Donoghue: I listened to this book and absolutely loved it. Whoever read this book, I suggest you pick up the audio book. Michal Friedman (an adult woman) narrated the character Jack and she actually makes the listeners believe that they are listening to a five year old. (10/10)

I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand on my iPad and enjoying the book very much.

I will do another post about the trip to India and my sister's marriage hopefully soon. Over and Out.

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.

My Top Ten: Books I've Re-Read

I saw this post on It's All About Books by Suey: Books I've Re-Read.

I think the title is self-explanatory so here we go:

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Outsiders by S.E Hinton (needs another read)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Sideway Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I really really want to re-read these books:

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Many books by Neil Gaiman


What books do you find yourself re-reading over and over?

Unfinished: The Numbers Game by Michael Blastland

I tried multiple times to read this book. I think I got as far as seven pages. It was very boring. I finally decided to stop torturing myself. If anybody has read this book and thinks otherwise, let me know.

I have finished six books since my last book post:

1. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
2. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
3. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Audio CD)
4. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle (Audio CD)
5. Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life by Roald Dahl
6. What is This Thing Called Love? by Gene Wilder

I am currently reading:

1. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle (Audio CD)
2. Serious Men by Manu Joseph

I have gotten as far as the third chapter in Serious Men and so far, it is an okay book. I will read few more pages before deciding whether to stop reading this book. I only picked it up after seeing the cover.

I also watched the Pride & Prejudice BBC mini-series. I absolutely loved it and Colin Firth was just great. It is definitely going to be part of my dvd collection. Now only if I can get my hands on the Keira Knightley version (2005) movie.

My Second Book Blogger Hop

 

Every Friday Jennifer of Crazy-For-Books hosts The Book Blogger Hop. The Hop is a great way to meet new bloggers and introduce your blog to others. This is my second time entering the hop. Last time I came across many interesting blogs (listed here).

 

For more details, please see Jennifer's post.

 

Reading update:

 

I am currently taking a short break from books. Before the break, I had just started Half Life by Roopa Farooki. As for audio books, I am really missing listening to Audio books. My brother carpools with me to his internship and we listen to the radio. If anyone knows of a good audio book that would interest a teen boy, please leave it in the comments. I don't have a preference, and I am open to listening to any book. Maybe I should just accept the fact that I won't be listening to audio books until August and deal with it, instead of forcing him to listen to audio books :)

 

Happy Blog Hopping!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Update:



I came across some interesting blogs:

• Books by their Story by Diana 
• Book Snob
• Read it, See it by Megan
• Life With Karma by Amy
• Chick Loves Lit by Shanyn
• Always With a Book by Kristin
• Bookend Diaries by Kelly
• Primo Reads by Janna

More Books

My parents returned from India on June 5th. Guess what I got? I got books. I had asked them to bring all the books by Chetan Bhagat. So far, he has written four books:

• Five Point Someone (Movie: 3 Idiots)
• One Night @ The Call Center (Movie: Hello)
• The 3 Mistakes of My Life
• 2 States

I am super excited about reading these books. I have yet to watch Hello and 3 Idiots and I think I will read the books first and then watch the movies. These books will go on my TBR list because I have couple of books that I would like to read first.

I am currently reading Half Life by Roopa Farooki and Last Time I Saw You (Audio CD) by Elizabeth Berg. Next to read is The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender only because it is on hold at the library. I won't be listening to any audio books for a while since my brother and I carpool to work. After this, I will read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This book has been on my nightstand for such a long time. This is one of those books that I would like to read without any breaks, and lately I have been taking many breaks while reading a book. For now these books will do. I have other books that I would like to read soon. I want to read Sophie Kinsella's other books, Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, and Vish Puri Mysteries by Tarquin Hall. There are just too many books and too little time.

Last time I went to Barnes and Nobles, I saw this really cool bookmark called "50 books to read before you die." I think I will get it next time I go there.

While searching for this bookmark, I came across a really cool blog named Bookmark Kingdom, a blog managed by Vaida. She collects bookmarks from all over the world. I have not had a chance to view them all. I really thought this bookmark was cute. I tried putting the picture on here, but it is too big.

Time to go...I will be back!

The Graveyard Book Movie

Awesome news for all Gaiman fans: The Graveyard Book is going to be a movie. There was a rumor that the project was dead. Neil Gaiman posted this article on his Facebook page last week. Here is a piece of the article related to the book:

The Graveyard Book is being adapted as a live-action feature to be written and directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Brave One, Ondine). The story is Gaiman's nod to The Jungle Book where a young boy is raised by the ghostly, ghoulish occupants of a graveyard, instead of animals. It sounds like the project is moving forward the exact same as it was earlier this year. Wayfare Entertaiment, Framestore (the visual effects company) and Gaiman will also produce, and CJ will co-finance the film and distribute in Korea and Japan. "The projects we are developing together meet our shared goal of producing movies for the global audience," Columbus said. "We see this as just the beginning of many terrific movies together." I hope so!

I am too excited and cannot wait for this movie.

 

I finished As It was Written by Sujatha Hampton today in lunch time and will review it soon. I also started The Last Time I Saw You (Audio Book) by Elizabeth Berg this morning.

    

Now back to work, something I get paid to do.

Book Blogger Hope

This week I am participating in Book Blogger Hope hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books. It is a great way to meet new bloggers, find some new blogs to follow and gain some great readers for your own blog. This is my first time participating in this event. I hope that I will find some great blogs to follow!

 

I started this blog with intentions of posting about my life events. Over the time, this blog has steered more toward books with occasional posts about CPA exams, March for babies, and life in general. I love books. I remember one of my first books were Cam Jansen series (a girl with photographic memory). I read mostly fiction and some non-fictions occasionally. I read whatever comes my way except for mystery, sci-fi (Ender Saga is an exception), and romance (few exceptions). I usually just browse the fiction shelves at my local library and see if there is something I like. As for Non-fiction, I enjoyed Outliers (my favorite), Freakonomics, Eat, Pray, Love, and Missiles in Cuba. I also tend to lean more toward books by authors who are Indian or has Indian origins (Jhumpa Lahiri) and if the topic relates to India, and the culture. Right now, my To-Read list has too many books. I read book reviews and if I like the short description, I add the book to my list. That is about it.


Update (5/8/2010): I discovered the following blogs thru the Book Blogger Hope:

• Kristen @ BookNAround
• PeachyTO @ BookSnake Reviews
• Emily @ Emily's Reading Room
• Allison @ I Heart Books
• Rachel @ JacobsBeloved
• Beth @ Thinking of Thinking

It was fun and would love to do it again!

Fun Meme: Book List (100th Post)

Rebecca from Lost in Books is hosting a fun meme: Books You've Read Over and Over and Over. The rules are simple. Make a list of 3 Books You've Read Over and Over and Over and...

Here is my list:

1. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The first time I read this book was in 9th grade and I fell in love. I read it again in college. Again when my brother was reading it. I will pick up this book again sometimes soon. I enjoy it more and more with every read. I admit I could not get into rest of the books of the saga. Nevertheless, I love this book. I did enjoy the parallel book "Ender's Shadow" and looking forward to reading that series. I might also pick up "Ender in Exile" which is a sequel to Ender's Game. (I am little confused as to what Card is trying to accomplish here as "Speaker for the Dead" was part 2 of Ender Saga). I hope they will make the movie in my lifetime because it has been on hold for a long time.

2. The Giver by Lois Lowry

I don't think I can count how many times I have read this book. I read this in 7th grade and read it several times after that. Another book that needs to have a movie. IMDb states the release date as 2011.

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Another book that is going to stay with me for a long time. There is something about Gatsby and the society that has attracted millions of readers around the world.

There are many more books but I have to limit myself to three :)

P.S. This is my 100th post. Yay me!

I just had to post this picture.

Ever Searched for a Book...?

I decided to make a list of books that I had read and enjoyed over the years. Facebook Visual Bookshelf is really helping me with that. Initially it was only books that I had read 2008 (that is when I joined FB) and after. I thought about all the books I had read in junior high, high school, and college that I really enjoyed and starting adding those. Now this is going back 5 years and more and I do not remember all the books. There were a lot of books. There were three books that I just had to add. I remembered the title of one, The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright, but I had forgotten the name of the other two. I remembered the stories and I thought that would make the search easier.

Anyways, the second book was about a boy who has this special ability of telling when somebody is lying. His arm tingles when somebody lies. I knew the title was something like "Lies" or "Liars." Now imagine searching that on Google. They should ban the authors from using that as a title. Eventually, I found the book and it is titled Liars by P.J. Petersen. I went to the author's website and sadly, he does not even list the book on his site. It is a great book and I really enjoyed it.

The third book was the most troublesome. I vaguely remembered the story as I read this book 6+ years ago but I remembered enjoying it very much. It was about a boy who is researching his family history and comes across the family secret about murder and lies. I knew there was an old woman in the story who gives him misleading information. I told the librarian about it and she said she will look for the book. Yesterday she emailed me and gave me couple of titles but none of them sounded familiar and one of them was written recently. I told her again what the story was about but this time I thought about how there was something about a shadow. After emailing her, I went to the library's website and looked up "murder" and "shadow." I got too many hits. Then I thought that maybe one of the famous children's authors had written the book and thought about Lois Lowry. I misspelled the last name and searched "Lowery." I hit books by Joan Lowery Nixon and that surely rang a bell. Then I went through the books by Nixon and FOUND the BOOK!!!!! I was so excited. It was Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon. It is interesting how mind works. I think I will make a decent librarian. :)

More about books: I am not listening to any books for now. I listen to CPA related material and the radio. I was looking forward to end of May when I can go back to listening to books. I found out that my brother got an internship at a hospital (which is awesome) that is 2 miles from my work, so I will be his ride. That means no audio books until he is done with internship, which is will end of July. Therefore, until August, I can say good-bye to audio books or listen to 10 minutes every day.

Don't Judge a Book...

...by its cover. I think almost everybody in this world have heard this saying. I agree with the literal and metaphorical meaning of the statement. However, whenever I pick my next book, I can't help but judge the book by its cover.

Whenever I chose a book, I consider the following:

• The story/plot of the book
• If it was recommended, it usually goes to my TBR list automatically, (unless it is non-fiction...then have to do a little research)
• If I see a review on the book blogs I follow
• Usually Facebook's Visual Bookshelf and Shelfari's reviews
• The book cover.

Recently, (sometime last week), I was browsing through the non-fiction audio books section (I occassionally do that). One audio book caught my eye because the spine of the book was colorful. I just had to pick it up and it was none other than Amy Sedaris (David Sedaris's sister). I will listen to it soon (a colleague is borrowing it right now.) Here is what I know:

• Plot: something to do with hospitality
• Recommendation: Not really....I had read something about her promoting the book and that got me interested.
• Review: Waiting for the colleague to finish. She said she is enjoying it so far.
• I haven't looked on Facebook or Shelfari but I have a slight idea what they will say.
• The book cover: well...it was interesting. Have a look yourself.

Anyways, time to sleep. It wasn't such a good day and on top of that, didn't get much accomplished. I have my exam next week on the 25th. Good Night.

Another Challenge

I can't believe I have decided to do this, after what happened with last two challenges. I do think I can actually finish this. This challenge is hosted by Royal Reviews and I saw it on the blog "Devourer of Books."

Challenge Guidelines:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

--Non-Bloggers: Include your information in the comment section.

2. There are four levels:

-- Curious – Listen to 3 Audio Books.
-- Fascinated – Listen to 6 Audio Books.
-- Addicted – Listen to 12 Audio Books.
-- Obsessed – Listen to 20 Audio Books.

3. Audio books only.

4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.

5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Only books started on January 1st count towards this challenge.

 
I am going in as Obsessed and I think I can do more than 20 audio books. I think I will add a gadget on the side for this when it starts and add books to that list. Can you tell I am excited?
 
As for the book I am listening to now, I am on the 9th disc (last one) and dying to know what will happen. I am listening to Pride and Prejudice and I have to agree that I took a while to get  into this book, but it is getting better and better by each chapter. Then I will give the audio books a break for a week. I would hate to leave any audio book in the middle when I take my vacation. I think next audio book is going to be either Neil Gaiman, 1984 by George Orwell, Shopoholic 2 by Sophie Kinsella, or A Christmas Carol. I want to start Ayn Rand's third novel, Atlas Shrugged, soon. I think tomorrow will be the day.
 
No updates on the personal life beside CPA studies and audit world. Both could be better. I finally ordered my phone today and I am getting Samsung Mythic and I am very excited about that. My brother ordered the same phone, so now I am thinking about buying some sort of sticker to distinguish between the phones. I also got data plan so it will be nice to have access to email and internet at all times. I will post pictures when I get the phones but in the meanwhile here is a pic from AT&T's website:
 

Btw...I am not liking the new Blogspot compose page. There is no spelling check icon and I can't customize the picture size to my liking...urrgghhh..this is irritating!

It is past midnight now and I think it is time to sleep. So should I say Good Night or Good Morning?

Last Week

Last week had some unexpected events.

• Monday: An inmate escaped in Baytown while they were transferring him from one jail to another. He was wheelchair bound as per the medical records but he managed to tie up the police officers escorting him and ran away on foot. They lockdowned Lee College and Lee High School and the library closed early. An update on that: they caught him today..so YaY!!!
  


• I also started the book Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
  


• Thursday: A friend of mine got engaged, so I am super excited for her. I can't wait for her wedding. I just love celebrations.
  


• Friday: It actually snowed in Baytown. It snowed last year. I think this might become something regular in Baytown. I don't have any pictures to share because I decided to stay inside the house.

Something on the bad note, I give up on the challenges that I took last year: the Countdown Challenge and the Author Challenge. I am sure I have completed at least one of them, but I am too lazy now to go and update those entries. I think I will just write "Abort" on top of the entry.

That's it for now!!! Back to work...

Library Loot

Here is another entry about books. I visited a book blog recently and the blogger mentioned her "Library Loot" for the week. So I thought I do the similar thing. I am going to steal her idea. :-P

I go to the library every single day to study for CPA. CPA has taken a toll on my life. I don't have a life anymore. No more having fun. I am out of shape (not that I used to work out or anything before). But it is not all that bad. Being at the library gives me more chances to checkout books. So the average number of items of my cards are usually 10, which includes books, audio books, magazines, and movies. I am listening to more books and hopefully my reading will also get back on track once I am done with CPA. At the same time, I hope my reading/listening continues as my library stops won't be as frequent.

Back to my library loot. I went to the library yesterday and got three audio books. I am almost done with Her Fearful Symmetry. I am going to read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand next and I have my own copy. I got the following:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - This is a classic read and I have been meaning to read it for a while now. Yesterday, I saw the audio book and checked it out. Now I am contemplating if I should read this next.
  
  
• The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs - According to the author's website, The Know-It-All is the story of one man's quest to learn everything in the world. His method? Reading the encyclopedia from A through Z.
  
  
• Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga - I read Mr. Adiga's first novel The White Tiger and I enjoyed it very much. I am looking forward to this novel. The reviews have been okay so far. And the reader is Harsh Nayyar so hopefully the experience will be better than last time.

That is all for today. I don't know which book will be next. Time to get back to work.

Happy 1st Anniversary!!!

I started this blog one year back on Sept. 28th. Happy Anniversary to my blog. :D

When I started, I had no idea what I was going to write. Then I just wrote whatever came to my mind. I realize that this blog has become more about books than my life. That is okay as I love books very much.

So far I have written 52 entries and this will be my 53th!!

Well...here is something about me.

On the 24th, I went to the library and when I got there, I was told that a study room was not available as they were all reserved for literacy tutors. I was also told to check back in 10-15 min. to see if any rooms become available, which might be due to the tutor not showing up. I thought, "Great...Now I have to sit out in the open and listen to bunch of high schoolers squeal, talk, and laugh." So I decided to sit on one of the tables that were located between two rows of books. I got to the table and put my stuff down. Then suddenly I was distracted. I was distracted by comic BOOKS. I thought, "Oh yay!! They have new Calvin and Hobbes Comic books, and few more. I will only spend few minutes on looking at them." This is kind of sad that I go to the library to STUDY but I am distracted by books. I am such a nerd...

See...this entry is even about books...

The History of Love ~ Nicole Krauss

I finally finished this book last week. It took me over 2 months to read this book. I do not think that was because the novel was boring. The beginning was slow. When I saw the book, I thought, "Do I want to read a cheesy love story?" Then I read the back cover and talked to the librarian, and after reading it all the way, I realized it is not a "cheesy love story." It made me go "aaaww" at times, but overall, it was interesting.

The story is little complicated. There is a novel within this novel called "The History of Love." I started explaining and realized that I was doing a horrible job. So I went to Wikipedia entry for "The History of Love." I think they do a very good job providing a summary of the novel.

The story was slow in the beginning and it got little confusing as it was hard to establish how the characters connected. However, as the book went on, it got better and better. I liked it even though at times it was melancholy. It was good book. I would give the book 8 out of 10.

Hopefully I will start The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama soon. I have been picking that book up every night and putting it down...I already renewed it.

Pooh Bear and the Tiger

I read/listened to few books since my last post. I read Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne and Tiger by Jeff Stone. I also listened to The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (I will blog about that in a separate entry).

1. Winnie-The-Pooh by A.A. Milne
   This book was recommended to me. I was told that as a kid, we watched this cartoon, but as an adult, we should read this book, to see different personalities present in the story. We understand the personalities better as adults. I read the book, and concluded that the book was cute. However, the characters were little disturbing. Eeyore is extremely depressed and somewhat creeped me out. Rabbit and Owl think very highly of themselves, where Pooh has very low self-esteem. What to say about Piglet? Piglet is gullible. The author does not introduce Tigger in the first book. Overall, I enjoyed it. I look forward to reading “Tao of Pooh” which should go more in detail about the characters and their personalities. I give this book 9 out of 10.
3. Tiger by Jeff Stone
   I had read some reviews of the series, and I wondered if the concept for the movie “Kung Fu Panda" was taken from the book. I enjoyed the book, but its not my favorite. I realized that I don't enjoy reading about fights as much, especially kung fu style. The concepts are somewhat similar. There is a master, and his pupils, learning how to fight and they must protect the dragon scrolls from a former pupil who has switched over to the dark side. There are several books in the series, and each book is based on the one of the major characters. However, the main character in the movie "Po" is missing from the books. Overall I enjoyed the book, and I might read rest of the books to finish reading the series. I give this book 7 out of 10.

Now I am reading Who killed Change? Its okay so far. Signing out of the blog...Good Night.

Beware of the Birth of May...

The title of the blog comes from the novel, The Sweet Far Thing. Since my last post, I have read/listened to five books. So that tells me that it takes about 2 months to finish five books, granted that the last book was only 3.5 hours long.

Besides books, a lot has happened in past 2 months. I got Lasik done, so no more glasses/contacts. Yay!!! The experience was interesting. There was fear but it was overcome by desire of clear vision. Now my vision is better than 20/20. So now when I wake up, I see everything clearly. No more squinting to see the time. :-P But even though my glasses are gone, I am still a nerd at heart.

Then it was my best friend's birthday so had a surprise party. That was too much fun. I am still waiting on pictures.

I had my first CPA exam. That experience was scary. I am not so sure what will happen but I have my fingers crossed. I am hoping and praying that I pass. I don't want to look at that stuff again. I started studying for the second exam, but that is not going so good. I have 2 months to be prepared.

Last but not the least, March for Dimes happened. I collected $100 and walked 5 miles. I think it is an awesome cause, as these babies will be our future. I also got a cute teddy bear. :-)

I made up for a month and a half of disappearance from Blogger, and wrote three blogs today. Lol.