There are only a few hours kept in the month of March, and I couldn’t be happier about how things are progressing. The total sits comfortably at 6,948 pages, that’s 1,430 over the projected quota, not quite the extra 2,000 pages that I would have like to have gone thru, but nonetheless, it’s still a pretty impressive feat.

The challenge that’s still alive and kicking is to read 3 times the weekly quota. Right now, I have a total of 2,023 pages for the week, leaving me with 1,757 pages to read in about 50 hours, quite the herculean task, but with the jolt of energy that this last few days have given me, 4 straight days logging over 400 pages of reading deserve a grand final act. There’s no question that I’ll jump into this skirmish head-on.

To close out today’s reading, I’ll continue with the sixth volume of the Manga series Noragami: Stray God, our rogue God Yato has proven to be more mischievous than first tough, and with a whirlwind of Gods, and some mythical warriors, the stakes are getting higher, not to spoil anything, but volume five ended on a sour note, that I presume will affect deeply the already angry demeanor of our protagonist.

If there’s a little bit of fuel left on the tank, I will probably continue with my path to have a better understanding of how my most beloved fantasy universe was created and populated with such a rich cultural and mythological background. I’m, of course, referring to what Professor Tolkien achieved with the creation of Middle-Earth.

Right now, I’m reading a chapter dubbed The Chaining of Melkor that follows the imprisonment of the OG Dark Lord of Middle-Earth, who consequently was mentor to Lord Sauron But if Sauron comes thru as an evil entity, Melkor, better known as Morgoth, makes him look like an amateur, that dude did some evil shit. Can wait to keep exploring the first age and all the mythology that shaped the place that feels like my second home.

Off to read.

azr.

I go into the last day of March with an impressive streak, and one that hopefully will hold for at least the spring vacation period, which in Mexico is two whole weeks.

Today’s total is 347 pages , giving me a whopping total for the 43th week of my fifteen year of this crazy endeavor of 1,557 pages. Could this be mythical week when I finally read 3 times the minimal quota? I’ll just have to keep on pounding away with my daily routine of reading and probably earn my first sigil, which will be forever engraved on my skin as a remainder of what I can achieve with a little effort and lots of discipline.

But better not get ahead of myself. It’s always good to get my feet on the ground and recite the daily mantra: one step at a time, one page at a time, although there’s no harm on getting excited while putting in the work.

As I said, this month has proven to be a turning point on how I started this year of reading and probably shaped this project for the remaining 8 years until my 50th birthday. What better testament of this, well, 6,482 total pages scream pretty loudly over the self-doubt that was looming over my head.

To keep things rolling in the right direction, there’s a plethora of reading material floating around to help me achieve my coveted goal. For tonight, I’ll be continuing with a new manga series that I stumbled upon, Noragami: Stray God.

It follows the misadventures of Yato, a homeless God that lacks both a shrine and worshipers, but his ambitions plan to have his own temple push him to start a help service, with a small fee as tribute, to fuel his endeavor he takes all sorts of oddball jobs to fill his pockets, as you can tell, chaos will most definitely ensue.

I’m just about to finish the third volume, and with plenty more available on my Kindle Unlimited membership, there’s a pretty clear notion of what I’ll be doing for the weekend.

Off to read.

azr

This particular day has been very satisfying and productive. I completed this month’s page quota. The current total for March is 6,135 pages, which are 617 extra pages from the desired total. There’s still 2,111 pages left on what I expected to chip away from the surplus pages of past months, quite the task for the two days left on the month. Nevertheless, I’ll give it my best to at least get 800 more pages.

As I said, this day, that still has a little more fuel left on the tank, as been a testament to my newfound routine. Before, I was obsessed with having these massive reading sessions that extended for hours on end, but now I found that the most efficient way to go about things is to have mini sessions, preferably of 15 minutes each, spreaded thru out the day.

Thanks to this new approach, my last four days have tallied a total of 1,589 pages. Now, the true challenge is to make this kind of results a habit, of course taking into account that the daily number I have to strive for is 180 pages, at least this is according to my projections for hitting the 1,000,000-page mark by my 50th birthday.

Slowly but surely, I have been seeing an increase in my daily average, which now is 88 daily pages. Still, there’s a lot of ground to cover, but as long as my numbers keep on moving forward, there’s room to maneuver toward the bigger goal.

This increase is in great part a result of looking for new sources of reading material that I haven’t tapped before, such as the example of the manga series that has been on my reading queue this last few days. Of course, I’m talking about Somari and the Guardian of the Forest, a beautiful fantasy tale with an amazing approach to the genre. Sadly, I just finished the sixth and final volume available, although, there’s some rumors that the creator, Yako Gureishi, is really determined to continue her magical work in the series. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

I better get back to it. This, of course, is with the intention of getting past my weekly goal. There’s only 50 pages left, but the mere act of getting the task completed in three days holds more to it than simply another notch in the win column. It reignites my dwindling hope that I have a real shot of celebrating my 50th birthday on a really rainy city, turning the final page of my favorite book and hoisting the imaginary medal that is this lifelong dream.

Off to read.

azr

Another day with not only amazing results with my reading progress but also with the breathtaking books that I had the joy of reading today.

I’ll first get into what I achieved number wise, and it was a lot. Firstly, this is the third straight day with 300 or more pages, being today the one with the most, a whopping 378 total pages, with the final reading session pending, shooting for a 500-page day isn’t that farfetched.

With the month of March dwindling, there’s the question of how close am I to getting the monthly quota finished. Well, today is the day that I can say that the challenge is now officially on the win column. My current total is 5,616 pages representing 101% of this month’s desired total, so anything else that goes into the books is going toward getting those pesky surplus pages out of that awful red tint that has been bothering me for months.

The plan was to read around 2,700 additional pages on March to try and tip the scales back in favor of the main goal of 64,000 pages for the year. This is quite the gargantuan task, but non the less, and judging how things are progressing this week, there’s a perfect window to get that much needed boost to finish strong.

I continue reading the fourth volume of manga series Somari and the Guardian of the Forest, and it hasn’t let up, the story just getting more emotional, heartwarming, and gut-wrenching

But my favorite read of the day was the delightful and beautifully illustrated Kodi. It is the story of Katya, a lonely girl who finds solace and friendship in the most unlikely of places, the backwoods of her grandmother’s house in the form of a gigantic but gentle bear. She shares her love for comic books and a ton of delicious food to form an unbreakable bond that no amount distance can destroy. The writer and illustrator, Jared Cullum, captures the hazy mood thru some amazing watercolor artwork that just floats from page to page. This type of story is why I keep coming back to comic books.

Off to read.

azr

This is the second day that I read 300 pages or more, and let me tell you, this is a feeling that will be really easy to get used to. Especially after a catastrophic week of reading, nothing gets my motivation back on track quite like a day with a total like that.

This gets March’s monthly quota up to 5,238 total pages, which represents almost 95% complete, with 280 pages to go and 4 days left to do so, I’m fairly confident that there’s even room to chip away at those pesky surplus pages from past months, anything kind of additional pages help, more so with eminent end of year fifteen looming just over the horizon.

With such an overwhelming result, I’m considering calling it an early night, or maybe there’s another reading session left on the old tank. I mean, with such beautiful stories awaiting, like the third volume of my latest manga discovery, Somari and the Guardian of the Forest, I’m enthralled with this beautiful story. It’s a fresh take on the tale of the heroes journey, and thankfully, there’s a total of 7 volumes to read on my Kindle Unlimited membership.

This keeps my Tolkien inspired reading marathon going, and as always, particularly in the fantasy graphic novel department, suggestions are welcome, nay, necessary.

Off to read.

azr

This has been a very redeeming day for this week’s reading. Right now, my total is 379 pages, and with a final reading line-up and ready to roll, I’ll probably finish the day bear the 500-page mark.

Also, the monthly quota is fast approaching the 5,000-page mark, only 75 pages to go, representing almost 90% complete. The weekly quota is a little more complicated to reach,there’s still 309 pages, and to be completely honest, I don’t think that with the time left on the day, this is not a feasible goal, but at least the effort will be made

The upcoming week will continue to be one focused on the epic journey that began yesterday with the first event of the year, Tolkien Reading Day, which was not as successful as last year, but non the less really enjoyable. I finally got to immerse in the inner workings of how Profesor Tolkien created the mythology of what is probably one of the most intricate worlds created in the vast tradition of the epic fantasy genre.

I’m really excited to keep exploring the twelve volume series that collects all the pieces of the puzzle that gave birth to Middle-Earth. The work that went into collecting and painstakingly decoding the vast amount of information created, mostly done by the professor’s own son, Christopher Tolkien, is admirable.

The one thing that stood out from today’s reading was a gem of a manga that I discovered thru my Kindle Unlimited membership. Sorami and the Guardian of the Forest follow the story of the quest of a little girl and a Golem in search of the rarest creatures in the land, human beings. Not only is the story really heartwarming, but the artwork is simply breathtaking. I will look for more work by its creator, Yako Gureishi.

Off to read.

azr

Today, things are looking up, not quite to the point of getting really excited for some massive progress, but at least my reading is moving in the right direction.

Today’s total is currently 82 pages, a big step up from yesterday’s measly 13 pages. This moves my total for the month of March to 4,482 pages, representing almost 82% of the projected quota, just about where I wanted to be for the last week of the month.

This couldn’t come in a better time, for tomorrow is the first major event, at least for yours truly, of 2023. I’m, of course, talking about Tolkien Reading Day, which celebrates one of the most important writers of the past century, professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.

This day was proposed because, according to the timeline of the Lord of the Rings, when Frodo and Sam, in the year 3019 of the Third Age, reached the Crack of Doom, birthplace of the dreaded One Ring, and finally vanquished Lord Sauron for good. So, since 2003, this has been the day to reminisce on the huge literary legacy that the professor created.

From my part, I’ll dedicate the day to start reading the first book of the series History of Middle Earth, dubbed The Book of Lost Tales Part One, and continue with a week long marathon, which will include some fantasy works influenced by The Lord of the Rings and as an added bonus, I’ll sit thru the film adaption, which I have seen probably about a 100 times, in their glorious extended edition.

Off to read.

And remember

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

Another slow day of reading, right now my total sits at 48 pages, and with the day in its last straw, I don’t see that number going up that much, but you never know.

Still, there’s always a bright spot on the day. For example, my total for Match sits now at 4,358 pages, close to 80% of the monthly quota, that’s only 1,160 pages left to reach the projected total. The other thing is that going thru my digital comic collection, I found a Black Panther series written by the amazingly talented Nnedi Okorafor.

For those not familiar with her work, she has an excellent sci-fi series,Binti, following her journey as the first member of her tribe to be accepted to the very prestigious intergalactic university Oomza Uni. The first volume of the series won the prestigious Hugo and Nebula Awards for the best novella in 2016.

In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be delving into a lot of series involving King T’Challa or his immediate universe. This particular collection of digital comic books became available for free to commemorate the untimely and traffic passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, who gave life in such an amazing and regal way to such a powerful character.

For now, I’ll maybe squeeze in another adventure in the kingdom of Wakanda, or maybe go and navigate some treacherous seas in a sentient ship.

Off to read.

azr