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.

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?

2008-2009 Author Challenge

The original challenge I saw was for a year. But since I started so late in the year (November)...I figured I will make it Challenge for November 2008 to October 2009 so it is a year challenge after all.

The books I am reading are italized.

A – The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

B – Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury; Tales From The Arabian Nights: Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves And Other Stories by Sarah Butcher; A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels & The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

C – The Alchemist by Paulo Cuehlo
D – 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna: The Life & Times of a Fat, Furry Legend! by Jim Davis
E – The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
F –
G – Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner;
H – Book of Thousand Days by Shannon Hall
I –
J –
K – Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney ; The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella; Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd; For One More Day & Five People You Meet in Heaven by Albom Mitch
L – The Fairy's Return and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine; Unaccustomed Earth & Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
M – Wicked by Gregory Maguire
N – The Darwin Awards Next Evolution (Darwin Awards) by Wendy Northcutt
O – Songs for the Missing by Steward O'Nan
P – The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Q –
R – The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
S – The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold; The Ultimate Life by Jim Stovall; Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
T – Death of Ivan Illych by Leo Tolstoy
U –

V – Incredible Coincidence by Alan Vaughan
W – Yukon Ho by Bill Watterson
X –

Y –

Z -

The Countdown Challenge

The goal of this challenge is to read the number of books first published in a given year that corresponds to the last digit of each year in the 2000s — 9 books from 2009, 8 books from 2008, etc. The total number of books required, therefore, is 45.

This challenge lasts from 8/8/08 through 9/9/09. Yes, it is retroactive to August 8th!

Crossovers with other challenges are allowed and your lists may change at any time.

Have fun reading!

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I will add to the list as the days go by...

Year 2009:

Year 2008:

1. The Crazy School by Cornelia Read
2. One in a Million by Kimberla Lawson Roby
3. Rodrick Rules (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series #2) by Jeff Kinney
4. 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna: The Life & Times of a Fat, Furry Legend! (Garfield) by Jim Davis
5. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
6. Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan
7. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale and Chelsea Mixon (Narrator) (Audio CD)
8. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
9. The Darwin Awards Next Evolution by Wendy Northcutt
10. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Audio CD)
11. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Audio CD)
12. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray (Author), Josephine Bailey (Reader) (Audio CD)

Year 2007:

1. The Ultimate Life by Jim Stovall
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
3. What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

Year 2006:

1. Secret of Lost Things by Sheriden Hays
2. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
3. The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, Katherine Kellgren (Reader) (Audio CD)
4. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
5. For One More Day by Mitch Albom (Author) (Audio CD)
6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (Author), Sarita Choudhury (Reader) (Audio CD)

Year 2005:

1. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and John Mcdonough (Audio CD)
2. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray (Audio CD), Josephine Bailey (Reader)

Year 2004:

1. Holiday on Ice by David Sedaris (Audio CD)
2. Tales From The Arabian Nights: Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves And Other Stories by Sarah Butcher (Audio CD)
3. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (Audio CD)
4. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (Audio CD), Josephine Bailey (Reader)

Year 2003:

1. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
2. Live at Carnegie Hall by David Sedaris (Audio CD)
3. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Audio CD)

Year 2002:

1. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2. Secret Life of Bees: by Sue Monk Kidd (Audio CD)

Year 2001 (I got more than one):

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Audio CD)