Wow, I guess time flies when you have a new iPad. I realize today that I haven't blogged since I got my new iPad almost 2 months ago and today Apple announced they have sold 2 million of them. I am enjoying my iPad thoroughly and really enjoying the new apps that are coming out specifically for the iPad. Downloaded the Weather Channel app this morning and it is really cool. Plus it was free which is always good. I've also re-discovered my Epicurious app, which has thousands of recipes and good reader/user feedback so I plan on using that a lot to see what new things I can come up with to cook this summer. I was using the iPad to catch up on missed episodes of "Lost" but ran out of time before the finale. I was disappointed in the finale but didn't really think that a show that left me with so many questions each week would possibly be able to answer all of them I've had for the past 6 seasons in just 2 hours. I've also been avidly using my iPad as an eBook reader. I am now on my 3rd book and really enjoying the layout, the fonts, the way the pages turn and the cute little bookshelf that will, I'm sure, be filled by the end of the year with books I have read.
So, brief reviews? First book I read on the iPad was "Half Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls. It was a semi-biographical book about the author's grandmother. It was interesting. Her grandmother was a rough and tumble girl who grew up on a cattle ranch and had adventures learning how to fly and teaching at local Arizona schools. It was an easy read and I finished it in less than a week. I was entertained by a different view of the "wild, wild, west" and having spent my formative years in New Mexico could relate to the characters. I didn't like the ending, which kind of just dropped you, but I'd probably recommend the book.
The next book I read was "Family Album" by Penelope Lively. This book was about a family growing up in England. It revolved around their house which was called Allersmead. All the children had different stories, and some surprises along the way. There was a live-in maid who ended up having an affair with the father of the family, then she went away and brought the child back and they raised it as one of their own, but the kids always knew their "sister" was different. It's no "Brideshead Revisited" but it was ok.
The book I am currently reading, and should finish this week, is called "Love and Summer" by William Trevor. This book is set in Ireland and follows a few characters, but the main story is supposed to be about a young girl who was brought to be a bride of a much older widower who's first wife died in a farming accident. She ends up falling in love with a photographer who is a stranger in town and they have an affair. It's kind of like the Irish version of "Bridges of Madison County." Can't say I'm really enjoying it. I tend to read a couple of chapters here and there and then put it down for a few days. It's written in a way that is a little hard to follow and the editors did a poor job, as there are several spots where there are gaps in the words or major misspellings.
Today is Memorial Day and the official start of Summer! We're having a thunderstorm right now but they said those should be gone by 4pm so I can still grill. So, hopefully I'll find some more time to do some more reading this summer and try to find a book I truly enjoy. I did truly enjoy "American Rust" but that's one out of 6 from the NY Times list and I'm finding it difficult to pick new ones seeing that I am disappointed so far.
What else is going on? Eric and I have amended our Ravinia schedule and are now only going to four concerts. Steve Martin, The Counting Crows (who were not on our original list), Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Train. We went to our first art festival of the summer up in Barrington on Saturday and that was fun but surprisingly hot, so we didn't stay too long. The Printer's Row Lit Fest is coming up in a couple of weeks and I am really looking forward to going to that. Last year we took our St. Bernard, Harley and he was the star of the show. The downside to that is that I couldn't spend time looking at books because we had to keep answering questions about Harley. This year, Harley is staying at home. We'll also go to the Wisconsin State Fair in August to look at the animals and have some cream puffs, italian sausage and corn. We'd like to get some golfing in at some point, but we'll have to see what happens. I know I'll be grilling a lot, and perhaps this is my summer to perfect a fruit tart.
I will try to keep up with my blogging. I find when I blog I end up having a lot to say, so if I did it more often, my entries would be shorter.
Off to wait for the thunderstorms to end so I can do some Memorial Day grilling.
Thanks again for reading and providing me with positive feedback.
