Today was a pretty chill day for reading, not by choice but still coming off such an impressive week of reading. Anything less than those astronomical numbers seems like I’m falling behind my pace once again, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

My total for today is currently 158. That’s only 22 pages from my minimal daily quota, so it’s not as catastrophic as it seems in my head. Proof of this is that on the fourth day of the month, I just crossed the 2,000-page mark, and my new reading is proving to be the most enjoyable and effective way to read every day without compromising the other duties that make my day to day

I know that this passed few days the book front of my reading has been a bit neglected. In my defense, there has been a tidal wave of great graphic novels that have sequestered my full attention. Take, for example, the two graphic novels on today’s reading queue. The first is Juan Gimenez The Fourth Power, a science fiction thriller following the dangerous trek of pilot Mega behind enemy line on an interplanetary conflict.

The other is the latest, at least for me, adventure of the rag-tag crew trekking thru very familiar scenery of the Dungeons and Dragons universe. This particular issue comes with a familiar threat from the Forgotten Realms Underdark, the eerie Illithid, mind controlling humanoids with octopus features in their heads, but that the least to worry about, their psionic powers are fear even by the unshakable Drow.

My first encounter with these fearsome race was thru their encounters with the legendary Drow Drizzt Do’Urden. Even the fearsome ranger had problems escaping the overwhelming power.

I better get back to it for tomorrow, I’ll start the next book to discuss in the podcast I’m collaborating in , said book shall, for the time being, remain a mystery.

Off to read.

azr

I thought that a sort of “reading hangover ” was going to take over my this week’s activities. I mean, what was achieved last week was no easy task, but much to my delight, the reading rhythm has maintained a very decent pace.

My total for today is 280 pages, summing up, in only the third day of April, a total of 1,853, which represents almost 34% of the projected quota. I’m in desperate need of getting the numbers update post back on a weekly basis. There have been quite a few exciting developments, especially on the end dates of the first 500,000 and the whole project, not close to where they should be, but moving forward with each passing day.

With this in mind, I’ll try to squeeze in some more pages before the day is done, of course, in addition to what is already in the registered pages column, which are a couple of pretty interesting story.

First, a return from a few weeks of hiatus was volume number twenty-five of the Manga series Shaman King. The battle still rages on to close out the tournament and hopefully crown the new king of the Shamans. The story is always high paced and fun of action, with a very welcomed dose of acid humor.

The other graphic novel was the first work that the extremely talented Jeff Lemire wrote and illustrated, Lost Dogs, following the story of a behemoth of a man that loses his family in a tragic encounter, and finds himself crawling back from what could have been his watery grave, mind you, this is not a feelgood story with a happy ending, but as with all of the stories I have read from Mr. Lemire, it’s a necessity to read and to see how his particular style of illustration begins to emerge. It’s simply a delight to witness.

Off to read.

azr

Although this has been a historic week for my reading progress, there’s still one last thing I have to do in order to achieve, for the first time, what seems to be an impossible task, read the weekly quota three times over, that means a total of 3,780 pages.

I’m just 203 pages away from getting there. With a couple of hours left on reading day, the odds are looking tipping toward my favor. In addition to reaching this outstanding milestone, it will also mark one of the best starts to a new month of reading. The total for April, in only two days, is 1,349 pages, which represents almost 25% of the total quota for the month.

Things are getting to a rhythm that’s starting to show serious promise to get me over the 60,000 page mark, and even being really optimistic, getting the 64,847 pages that I projected for the year. This is all toward getting to that 1,000,000-page not only in time but also with a little panache.

Now, I must not get ahead of myself. There’s one more graphic novel left on my queue for today, Noragami: Stray God Vol. 8, this will leave with only 1 page to reach the goal, that’s where a couple of pages from The Book of Lost Tales will come really in handy.

I’m on these privileged position, thanks in part of the amazing graphic novels that were on this lazy Sunday TBR pile. I will not get into detail, being that I have more present matters to attend to, but you can see in the images below what comprise said material.

Off to read.

azr

This couple of days have been outstanding for my reading progress, and I do mean earth-shattering good. Yesterday finished with a total of 609 pages, and today, with one more reading session left in the tank, my total is a whopping 743 pages, which represents almost 14% of the month quota, and in one day, I hear celebratory fireworks going off in my head.

This is the perfect way to start the next to last full month of my year. My year finishes on June 6, so that gives only April and May in their entirety, and those 6 days of June become the most intense period of reading for the year.

By the way, March ended with a total of 7,153 pages, which is 1,635 pages over the projected quota. I was aiming for over 2,500 extra pages, but I’m not complaining about the end result. Any forward motion is gravely appreciated, more so with the clock winding down freakishly fast.

Today, my reading choices took another pathway, I was focusing on a couple of manga series for most of the week, and I needed a change of pace in order to keep things fresh and exciting. The main reason today’s progress is so amazing is because of the two graphic novels that accompanied me thru the day.

The first is a fresh look on the classic novel by the vampire queen herself, Anne Rice. For this particular adaption of Interview with the Vampire, we get to witness the story thru Claudia’s eyes. If you think the original novel was harrowing, the experience of the child vampire is even more heartbreaking. I loved the artwork by Ashley Marie Witter, who also adapted the story, is simply breathtaking, her color choices of making it Sepia hue with a splash of blood red, gives every panel a dreamlike quality.

The other graphic is the award winning trilogy by one of the best and favorite writers working on comic books right now, Jeff Lemire. Essex County, located in Ontario, Canada, tells the story of the happenings in a rural town, loosely based on the author’s hometown, where the everyday life of a plethora of characters collide over three generations.

As with most of the comic books that Mr. Lemire writes and illustrates, you’ll find conplex stories that will not suit the casual comic book reader. They are filled with such beautiful insight into the harsh and difficult times that most human beings have to traverse in their existence, facing ghosts from the past, sometimes as cathartic moments, and others just as haunting memories. All of this is perfectly captured by the minimalistic approach of Mr. Lemire’s artwork, not one line, is missing or exceeding what the moment needs to be perfectly captured. As you can tell, I just simply love his work.

There’s still a couple of graphic novels buzzing around and begging to be devoured, but I think it is probably best to close out today’s session with a little bit of Robin Hobb’s The Ship of Magic.

Off to read.

azr