"On he flared . . ."

I really need to get on the phone with Comcast about fixing our internet. Matthew's computer has no trouble connecting to the internet, but no matter what I do with the cords or the router my computer cannot receive internet. This means that I have to wait until Matthew is asleep or away from his computer before I can go online. Bah.

Anyway, onto the important stuff.

Cooking: Last week I made chocolate-caramel bars and broccoli carrot stir-fry. Both were really tasty and fun to make! I had never made a stir-fry by myself before but I imagine that I'll be making a lot more this year since Matthew and I really enjoyed it. I must say that as simple as they are, toasted walnuts are delicious and I might add them to other stir-fry recipes even if they aren't specifically requested.
This week I made banana bread and peach breakfast slush. I hadn't realized how long banana bread takes to bake and almost left for work late, but luckily I made it on time! I also didn't know that you can buy apricot nectar in cans. I was afraid that I'd have to buy apricots and squeeze the juice out of them after not finding anything at Kroger, but then I went over to Meijer and luckily they had some apricot nectar. Either way, both recipes were successes!

Cooking: 8/75 completed

I completed The Fall of Hyperion a couple days ago and am once again very impressed with Simmon's work. This novel had a lot of new plot lines and examined interesting new characters but also held onto enough of Hyperion's plots and characters to make a smooth transition into the second novel. I was glad to finally learn more about Meina Gladstone and how the Hegemony functions. Gladstone's story is very interesting and quite surprising at the end. Without revealing anything, I'm just going to say that she made a difficult and admirable decision. I truly enjoy how well Simmon's weaves the different stories and perspectives together, and we find out in this novel how Sol and Rachel's story is connected to everyone else's. Simmon's also focuses more on Sol's inner struggle in this novel, which I think added a lot to the overall plot. There really wasn't a single story that I didn't enjoy, and the novel ended with the possibility of a few of the plots continuing into the next installment.

Rating for The Fall of Hyperion: 10/10

Books Read: 2/75

Hoping to finish the third novel, Endymion, in the next few days!