Month: November 2025

Numbers: November 24, 2025

Welcome to another installment of my Magic Mondays, or better known as the special day where I go thru my week’s reading and see how much progress was made on every front of my project.

To start things off let’s talk about the current year, number eighteen, and on this past week, the twenty fifth, I again achieved my total goal,even if just barely.

The total came in at 1,369 pages, that’s 18 over the minimum average for each week. This is the fourth week in a row that I pass the goal, and I hope to keep that trend going. With these results my total page count for the year moves up to 22,486 pages, really good number, but there’s still 47,779 pages to go on the desired total for the year.

My next focus for the year will be to crossed the next three important waypoints, 25,000, 30,000 and 40,000 pages, on the way to the broader goal. For the most proximate goal, I’m 19 days away, which gives me an approximate date of December 13, 2025, followed by 57, with a date of January 20, 2026, and finally 133 days, with a date of April 6, 2026. The 50,000-page mark is still out of range from this year, about 14 days, but with the current pace, I know it will get within this year to achieve.

As always, I will breakdown those gargantuan numbers into more manageable goals. That’s the only way to get over the 70,000-page mark for the first time in this project.

On the broader picture there’s the case of the next big numbers to achieve, 750,000 pages and the coveted 1,000,000 pages .

Right now, I’m 149,104 pages away from those tree quarters of a million pages, and with my daily average, which is around 96 pages per day for the whole project, I’m looking at a finishing date of February 23, 2030, and improvement from last week projection of 9 days.

Now, let’s talk about the big boy, those million pages, the crowning achievement of my journey, and as it turns out, the beginning of another faces of this project, which I’m glad to say, are cooking right now on my mind and my partner in crime , we have some surprises coming up really soon, and in a not so distant future, some post collaboration, I’m not going to spoil the fun with more details, but is going to be really fun and a chance to work with someone I admire and respect so much.

But, in order to make way for new stuff, I must achieve this behemoth of a goal. Which consequently is 4,155 days away, and according to my calculations, will be achieved on April 10, 2037, that will make me 55 years 10 months and 5 days old,still a long ways to go, but moving in the right direction, only this week, I brought down the finishing date by 12 days, those little steps just keep adding up.

With some holidays coming up, and grand plans of weekend-long reading marathons, I’m sure that 2026 will start on a high note.

A quick recap

  • Total pages (Y-18): 22,486 pages
  • Pages left (Y-18) : 47,779 pages
  • Total pages (General) : 600,896 pages
  • Date to achieve 750,000 pages: February 23, 2030
  • Date to achieve 1,000,000 pages : April 10, 2037
  • Days Behind: 2,136 days

For now, I’m off to read

Azriel

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The Journey: 600,000 pages

I’m so glad to inform that another of my milestones has been achieved.

It took me 6,252 days, or, 17 years, 1 month and 12 days but I finally arrived at the 600,000-page mark. This has been quite the journey, filled with amazing stories, long nights of reading, and best of all, a lot of friends cheering me on.

The book that got me over the goal was the tenth and final volume of the incredible graphic novel series Scalped, written by Jason Aaron and beautifully illustrated by R.M. Guéra, fittingly tiled Trails End, in which, we get to witness the bloody conclusion of federal agent Dash Bad Horse descent into the underbelly of the reservation that watch him grow up, as with most of the Vertigo Comics series, I highly recommend you check them out, none are easy reads, but they are a good detour in comics from the superhero genre.

With 2,022 left until my 50th birthday, and the deadline of this particular goal, now more than ever every single day count, and with all the future endeavors, new sections (shout-out to my partner in crime for the inspiration and support of the expansion of this idea, forever grateful for the daily feedback and encouragement to keep pushing this into another level),and even the plan for some merch from my beloved journey.

The 1,000,000-page mark is destined to be the beginning of something far greater than what I imagined all those years ago, sitting on a table with a book and having the crazy idea of keeping track of my reading

The focus now is the next milestone, 650,000 pages, which according to my projections will be achieved on April 25, 2027. I know that this date can be and should be much earlier, but for that, I must pull all the tricks in my hat, and get it done.

For now, I’m off to read.

Azriel

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Caffeine Pilgrimage: Cafe La T

Is great to return to one of my first side projects of this journey of mine, as you can tell there are a few things that I enjoy as much as reading, and that is drinking that magical bean brew that fuels so many late-night sessions where my conviction is there but energy needs a little boost.

But as I came to realize, not that I don’t enjoy the seclusion of my own house, sometimes is good to go and find places where I can enjoy some coffee, and get some reading done.

Hence, the caffeine pilgrimage was born.

So, the rules of engagement are easy

  • Try all local flavors
  • Avoid big chains (with a few exceptions for local chains)
  • Try at least two different coffee drinks

On this occasion, with the recommendation of my partner in crime, we went to Café La T, tucked away in a not so busy street, the location gives it a nice and quiet vibe, they even have a small bookshelf with some board games and books. For a little more comfy experience we headed to the mezzanine area, where there’s only 4 tables, all with comfortable armchairs, perfect for those long reading sessions.

The lighting and ambience were really warm and inviting, I can see myself coming back, probably in the late afternoon, to enjoy a couple of cups and get some reading done. The advantage of not being in such a busy area is that most of the time the orders are to-go, and the space doesn’t feel overcrowded.

Now for the star of the show

As is almost mandatory, I ordered to start me off a large Americano, there’s a lot to judge if a coffee shop can pull-off a staple such as this, and fortunately it was really on point, perfect strength to wake you up to get focused on reading. Quickly follow by an iced latte, which was pretty good, good balance and not overpowered by the milk.

To complement these delicious drinks I opted for a sandwich and some dessert, we planned to take our time, and as such, snacks are a must. The sandwich was a Roast Beef panini, nothing out of the ordinary, and the dessert, a mango mousse, now that was pretty damn tasty, not to sweet, but with the perfect amount of sugar to contrast with bold flavors of the coffee.

In all ,the experience was pretty rounded, the place has a good and chilled vibe, perfect to read, the coffee is pretty well prepared. The only thing is that the prices are a little higher than the average for similar coffee shops, but nothing that dramatic. As far as make it one of my staple places to go and unwind, I think it would not make the top 10 list, but for sure a place I would visit again.

Here you can find the link for the location, business hours and menu

Café La T

Recommendations:

Drink of choice: Good ol’ Americano

Dessert Choice: Mango Mousse

Best Hour: Around 6:00 p.m.

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The Journey: November 19,2025

As the year winds down, I have exactly 200 days left on this year, the need to turn my reading up becomes even more impending, there’s a lot of pages and incredible stories in front of me , and the last three weeks have been a testament of what can be when I put my mind and effort into, great step forward can be achieved.

But one word comes to mind, Consistency, it should become almost a mantra, not rely on this amazing reading burst, but be disciplined. And always come back to the two main principles that have brought me here: “one page at a time” and “read anywhere, ready everywhere “. If I keep doing this, all my goals will be conquered.

Another thing that I’ll like to acknowledge is that today would have been my late father’s 74th birthday, his presence, love, knowledge and humor is greatly missed. I’ll toast to his memory, how he loved the history of languages, and the life of saints, curious because he was not a religious person, and how there was never a limits for books. As I grew older, he was a great source of debate and philosophical insight. I do miss him terribly, but I can feel his presence and guidance.

Mi viejo, I’ll see you someday again, and we can walk the vastness of that paradise you described, that purple desert, with the fleeting sunsets and the stars shining brightly.

Coincidentally, it was his mother, my grandmother Carmen, the one person that introduced me to the enthralling world of books. She had a vast library, could recite her favorite poems by heart, and was the most gentle and loving person in the world. I can remember the Christmas holidays surrounded by books and her amazing cooking. I will get lost for hours in books and at night, she would make stories up so I could go to sleep. She was also bought me my first comic book, Punisher to be precise, not really appropriate for a nine year old, but that started a life long love with reading and knowledge.

It always good to have those types of influences in your life, they were and are a great gift.

Coming back a little bit back to my journey, this past three weeks were really packed. I finish the incredible book The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill, and let me tell you that it was a tense and eerie ride from beginning to end. The melding of psychological horror and the dread of being lost in an environment so alien and terrifying only adds to the desperation that the characters in the book. And to top it off, add some nordic folklore and monsters, well it just crushes you. I’m only beginning to get into horror novels, but the past two book by Mr. Nevill had been a true delight, I can’t wait to get further into that genre.

The next book on the queue is the critically acclaimed novel by Susanna Clarke, Piranesi. I’m just got into the first 45 pages of the book, but as always, Ms. Clarke weaves a fascinating story. It follows the main character, Piranesi, and his journey exploring an infinite House filled with halls, where the statues and skeletons make up the entire populace. I can’t wait to see what the tides bring, what lies in those eternal halls.

As for my journey toward reading the next book of the gargantuan series of Warhammer, The Horus Heresy, as I stated on past posts, the goal was to read ten books of my TBR pile in order to purchase the next one the series, Fulgrim. I’m delighted to announce that The Ritual was the seventh book on the list and Piranesi will be eight, the next step is almost at hand. The list of reading goes as follows :

  1. The First King of Shannara (Terry Brooks)
  2. Verano (J.M. Coetzee)
  3. Between two Fires (Christopher Buehlman)
  4. Babel (R.F. Kuang)
  5. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
  6. The Reddening (Adam L.G. Nevill)
  7. The Ritual (Adam L.G. Nevill)
  8. Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)
  9. TBD
  10. TBD

For books number nine and ten, I will leave the choices to my partner in crime and future collaborator on this blog , let’s see what the fortunes bring my way, and what need literary worlds I get to dip my toes into.

On the comic book front, this past weeks have been almost entirely dedicated to the controversial comic book series by writer Jason Aaron and illustrator R.M. Guéra, Scalped.

The crime-noir series was originally published by Vertigo Comics on January, 2007, with a run of 60 issues mostly under the helm of the original creators and it follows the story of undercover FBI agent Dash Bad Horse has he returns to the fictional reservation of Prairie Rose in South Dakota. His main goal is to bring down the corrupt and brutal Chief Lincoln Red Crow, as his grips over all the tribal affairs is iron clad and extremely violent.

In his mission he finds all sorts of strange characters and deadly foes, some descents into addiction and murder, and the moral conundrum of the prize to bring what the outside forces deemed as peace.

There’s some backlash on the story for the depiction of some of the Native American characters and the way of life inside the reservation , as with all stories, you should be careful, as a reader, not to fall into the stereotype of the characters because of any of their background, it should be treated like that, a work of fiction that not necessarily reflects the actual reality.

That being said, I really enjoy the series, it’s full of turns and twists, and with the protagonist being not this picture perfect law enforcer, it gives it this high stakes game where you are not sure he is going to survive, but you keep hoping that he does. I have only one volume left on the series, there’s some nervous anticipation to see how this plays out

As you can see, it was a busy couple of weeks, and with this enormous momentum, I hope to ride this pace until the end of this year, with plenty of stories read and 30,000 pages under my belt.

For now, I’m off to read.

Azriel

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Numbers: November 18,2025

Welcome back to was supposed to be another Magic Monday, but let’s call it a whimsical Tuesday, and since I have not posted an update in a few weeks, there’s a lot to go thru.

Let us begin with the current year of reading , number eighteen, currently on week number twenty-five is shaping up to be one of the best so far. I’m aiming to at least be over the 60,000-page mark, but for that the most important thing is to see how the numbers are shaping up.

For the last three weeks, numbers twenty-two to twenty-four, I have achieved the weekly goal, even if just barely. The weekly goal is 1,351 and my total has been 1,363, 1,376 and 1,353. Like I say by the skin of my teeth, but either way, a win is a win. This surge in reading has gotten me to a total of 21,159 pages for the year, with 49,106 pages left on the goal.

The next milestones are reaching 25,000 pages, projected for December 18 of this year. The other two milestones within the reach of this year are 30,000 and 40,000 pages, which projected for January 26, 2026 and April 14, 2026, respectively. The next target will be to get the 50,000-page mark within the reaches of this year, right now the projection is for July 1, 2026, less that a month from the end of the year of reading.

Now for the bigger picture, the next milestone on the docket is reaching 600,000 pages, and I’m so glad to inform that the goal is just about to be conquered. With only 431 pages to go, the projection is to cross that threshold in 4 days. That’s 25 days before the projection that I had over 3 weeks ago.

One of my most coveted milestones is the 750,000- page mark, as I said before, this achievement has attached a very special reward, a road trip to some amazing destinations that culminate in the enchanting Monument Valley. The trip was masterminded by my partner in crime, taking it from a decent idea in the back of my mind to a mesmerizing adventure on the road, savoring the magical air of the desert. That only gives me extra motivation to bring that journey into fruition, because judging with the itinerary proposed to explore, she has a superpower for finding cool and enchanting places, the trip is going to be one for the ages.

With that in mind, the current situation is the next, I have 150,431 pages left to read for the goal, based on the current pace, that will be achieved in 1,568 days, giving us the date of March 4, 2030. Taking into account that the last projection situated that achievement on April 3, 2030, gaining 31 days of time is an accomplishment that should be revered.

For the elephant in the room, the behemoth, the gargantuan task, or better known as the 1,000,000- page mark, my progress was astonishing. I’m 4,173 days away from crossing the finish line. I know it doesn’t sound that promising but bear with me. The last projection situated the finishing date on June 1, 2037. With the last three weeks burst of pages that date move up to April 22, 2037, that’s 41 days earlier than the last projection. I’m still not near the neighborhood of my goal of being 50 by the time I reach my goal, but this gets closer and closer each passing week, right now, I would be 55 years 10 months 17 days old, but this number keeps decreasing , and with it, my hopes to achieve my goals.

For me, this step forward, although they might seem not that transcendent, are exactly the motivation and momentum to keep me pushing forward.There’s still some work to be done, this type of results become a breath of fresh air.

A quick recap

  • Total pages (Y-18) : 21,159 pages
  • Pages left (Y-18) : 49,106 pages
  • Total pages (General) : 599,569 pages
  • Date to achieve 600,000 pages : November 22,2025
  • Date to achieve 750,000 pages : March 4, 2030
  • Date to achieve 1,000,000 pages : April 22, 2037
  • Days Behind : 2,148 days

For now, I’m off to read

Azriel

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The Journey: November 2,2025

As spooky season comes down to a close, as always, I’m not ready just yet to let go of the ghastly stories, and the ghouls that have accompanied me during this month.

So I decided to mark the closing of the season with the release of Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, which comes out next Friday , November 7. What better way to celebrate this month long marathon than with two of my favorite things, a film by the brilliant director and one of my favorite books of all time, just the cherry on top of the cake. And as usual I’ll be enjoying it with my in-house horror expert and partner in crime for all the future endeavors of this blog.

I tell you, it’s priceless to have someone to share with, who has that same energy and love for the spooky season, it just made it extra special and fun.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to go thru some stories that caught my eye and send chills down my spine. In that note, the current book on the queue is The Ritual, the most recognized work by English writer Adam L.G. Nevill. I jump right into after thoroughly enjoying The Reddening, it was quite the experience, the book grabs you and keeps you tense all through out, that ancient evil that permeates on a seemingly quiet coastal town, just chills you down to the bones, and makes it very clear that us, as humanity are truly the most vicious creatures in the world.

The Ritual has that same vibe to it, but the setting changes quite a bit. The story, without any spoilers, takes place in the Scandinavian wilderness, where four friends, of English origin, decide to take a hiking trip to reconnect with each other, things go really wrong, really fast. I’m just 80 pages in, and you can feel atmosphere getting denser and darker with each page.

On the comic book front, there are some stories that were recommended in a few post from other avid readers of horror comics, which I’m fairly new to, but one stand out. The Autumnal, written by Daniel Kraus and beautifully illustrated by C. Shehan, follow the story of Kat and Sybil Somerville, mother and daughter respectively,as they return to Comfort Notch, this in wake of Kat’s estranged mother passing away. This seemly idyllic town holds a darker secret, there’s something in the trees, and escape is not and option.

The other two stories I have been working on is one of the local creators from my region, 656 comics, a group of artist and writers that work on both sides of the border of Juárez-El Paso. This time, I have started reading the series Cryptidnals, written by Ray Ramos and illustrated by Dario Rodriguez, imagine that a secret war has just unleashed between legendary creatures, and it’s up to figures like The Goatman, La Llorona, and Quetzalcoatl to stop it, the first issue was amazing, and I can wait to keep on reading.

And to close out the current comic book on my queue, I m taking on an iconic character, Batman, written and illustrated by two legends, Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson.The Cult, finds Batman captured by an delusional cult leader, Deacon Blackfire, with the sole purpose of using The Caped Crusader on his deviant plans. In my opinion, one of the essential stories of The Dark Knight and it’s always a delight to see Mr. Wrightson’s work.

Still a lot of chills and thrills left on the extended spooky season, and with that culmination of the week with the much anticipated adaptation of Frankenstein, there’s a lot of fuel to make this an amazing week of reading.

For now, I’m off to read

Azriel

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