(Y-12) Quarantined Days, Update 5

My reading is moving along quite nicely, yesterday’s total was 165 pages, and I am down to 7,286 to reach 40,000 pages, and about 54 days to do it.

That’s 134 pages per day, just to keep that in mind.

On my book front, the fifth volume of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Midnight Tides, I read 28 pages and reached page 158 of 624, still have next Sunday as my deadline to finish it, time to put the pedal to the metal.

My goal for this year is to read the remaining books of the epic series, which has 10 volumes.

I finished the second volume of Brian Wood’s Vertigo comics series DMZ, and I plan to read the next three volumes that are available on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

8 June, 2020 0

(Y-12) Quarantined Days, Update 4

Yesterday was an amazing day.

I got to celebrate my birthday with my wife and kids, had a great piece of steak, and way too many glasses of red wine.

I didn’t read as much as I intended, but it was a really relaxing day.

On my journey thru Midnight Tides, the fifth book of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, I only read 10 pages, and I still have the intention of finishing it by next Sunday, so I see some intense reading sessions in my future.

Also, I started reading Brian Wood’s Vertigo Comics series DMZ, about a second civil war in the United States, situated in New York City, and following the footsteps of accidental journalist Matty.

I finished the first volume and working on the second one, there are five available to read for free in my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

7 June, 2020 0

(Y-12) Quarantined Days, Update 3

Another great day of reading, I had a total of 255 pages, which leaves 7,616 pages to reach 40,000.

I read 37 pages of Midnight Tides, hopefully, I can pick up the pace, and be finished with it by next weekend.

Also, I finished with the first volume of Coffin Hill, loved it, and fortunately, the next two volumes are available to read for free on my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

And finally, I read the last 4 issues, 9 to 12, of the amazing series of Aliens: Defiance, written by Brian Wood, if you are a fan of movies you should definitely pick this series or for that matter any Aliens series from Dark Horse, I recommend Aliens: Dead Orbit.

I plan to jump into the next volumes of Coffin Hill, read over 60 pages of Midnight Tides, throw some steaks on the grill, chase those down with some red wine, and have a perfect birthday celebration with my beautiful family.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

6 June, 2020 0

5:36 a.m.

Today I turn 39 years old.

Two things come into mind, the first is that I now have 11 years to complete my ultimate goal of reading 1,000,000 pages.

The other one is when the clock marks 5:36 a.m.

According to my father that was the exact hour of my birth.

Since I moved out of my parents house he had the tradition of calling me exactly at that hour and reminiscence about that day.

It didn’t matter if I went out, and had a few to many, there it was, the traditional phone call, in all it’s mocking and sarcastic glory that was typical of my father.

I guess is one of the things that I miss the most about him.

Now it will be the third time in almost 4 decades that my phone won’t ring.

But still I hold it in my hand 2 minutes before the hour, with a glimmer of hope.

5:36, nothing.

5:37, still nothing.

5:39, oh well maybe next year.

I am grateful that his voice still rings in my ears, and with the classic opening opening line ” I remember 36 years ago, it was about 3:00 a.m. , and you decided it was time to enter this world, oh, by the way, I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

No Pops, you didn’t, but I wish you would more time.

6 June, 2020 0

(Y-12) Quarantined Days, Update 2

Another great day of reading is under my belt.

Yesterday’s total was 158 pages.

This was with 30 pages of Midnight Tides, the fifth volume of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, I am taking it really slow, it is a complex world, full of details and characters, especially the magical system.

I read the next four issues, 5 to 8, of Brian Wood’s series Aliens: Defiance, which takes place between the movies Alien and Aliens, it’s always creepy to see the xenomorphs skulking around for new prey.

Also, I started reading the first volume of a very promising series written by Caitlin Kittredge for Vertigo Comics, Coffin Hill, which is also available to read for free with my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

I am shooting for a day above 250 pages, for now, I am off to read.

azr.

5 June, 2020 0

(Y-12) Quarantined Days, Update 1

Yesterday was great, this in part of my beautiful insomnia kicking in.

My total was 204 pages, which brings my total to read to 8,029 pages.

My reading consisted of a little of the next chapter of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Midnight Tides, about 11 pages.

I finished the second volume of Jason Aaron’s Vertigo comics series Scalped, Casino Boogie.

Also, and a really pleasant find on my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I read the first four issues of the Dark Horse comics series Aliens: Defiance, written by one of my favorites comic book writer, Brian Wood, which also has DMZ and Northlanders available to read for free with the subscription, and already on my TBR pile.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

4 June, 2020 0

(Y-12) Quarantined day, or, how I’m trying to reach 40,000 pages

We have been extra careful with all the COVID-19 stuff, and this has meant that we have only gone out for really essential stuff like groceries, doctor’s appointments, or things we cannot do over the internet.

This means a lot of downtime for reading.

The situation in Mexico has not yet reached its peak point, so we have to keep on taking the same preoccupations, which according to the Secretary of Health it will probably be at the end of June, which means a summer spent behind closed doors, and on the backyard.

With this in mind, I have taken upon myself to reach 40,000 pages by the end of July.

Right now I am still 8,233 net pages away from doing it, here is an explanation on the meaning of net pages, and I plan to make daily updates of what I am reading and the total amount that I have chipped off my next challenge.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

3 June, 2020 0

(Y-12) My numbers so far

It has been a while since I talked about my progress toward reaching my ultimate page goal.

I had a few setbacks, but each day I have gained some ground.

Let me start by saying that this year is shaping up to be my best one yet.

My total sits at 31,449 of the 41,665 pages that it’s my goal for this year.

I still have 133 days until the end of this year of reading, and I am 40 days ahead of schedule, with my projections, and if everything remains the same, I will probably with around 49,000 pages.

That will be 2,000 pages more than my best year.

I have read 21 of the 49 books on my list for this year, this is one goal that I see nearly impossible to reach, but I’ll give it my best effort.

For the next year, the lucky number 13, I am planning to change my reading schedule, this, to make it coincide with my finishing date, my 50th birthday on June 6, 2031, that will mean that this year will be a short one, 236 days to be precise, and from year 14 onward, every reading year will end on my birthday.

On the broader picture, I have a total of 311,647 of the 1,000,000 pages that are the main goal for this project, those 688,353 pages left I have little over 11 years to read, quite the task but I’m up to it.

There are two things that have become the main axis and motivation for my reading, the two milestones as I call them, the 500,000-page mark, and the 1,000,000-page mark.

Let’s talk about the first one, I am 188,353 pages away from it, according to my calculations I will reach in 2,571 days, that means that by June 18, 2027, I should be celebrating this milestone, but that will be mean that I’ll only have about 4 years to read the other 500,000 pages left in my project, so I am working the shorten that date.

For the second milestone, the projections suggest that I am 9,396 days away, and the end date will be February 24, 2046, almost 15 years later than my intended goal.

This number has come down dramatically, on February 6 of this year, I had projected that I would finish on March 19, 2047, that is 389 days gained in 4 months.

My main focus is to at least gain another year of ground by the end of this reading year, and also leave less than 31,000 pages to read for year 13.

With that in mind, I am off to read two amazing books.