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

I’m finding it really difficult to get back to the magnificent reading pace that kicked off this illustrious month. Today’s current total is the evidence of my struggle. The day is about to end, and my total is only 117, alas, this will not become the measure nor the rhythm that will define my reading going forward, I’ll make sure of it.

What gives me a little bit of calmness is that my total for the month is still ahead of schedule, sitting comfortably at 4,247 pages, a little over 75% of the total quota, giving me only 1,271 left on the month projection, and opening a really good possibility to chip away some of those pesky surplus pages from past weeks.

Part of why my day has not been so productive, reading wise, of course, is in part of the really hectic schedule that the day after a holiday presents, but mostly is because I’m trying out a new approach to how I schedule my reading sessions around my work and also how my analog tracking becomes more simple to maintain but keeping it expressive and concise. All of this takes time and, more importantly, patience. At least there was an opportunity to sit outside, catch some sun, and watch how everything is begging to awake from their slumber.

To close out the day, I’m torn between one final session of Robin Hobb’s The Ship of Magic or continue with H.P. Lovecraft’s collection. I’ll probably let a D20 decide. The only thing is that I’m not sure what the Charisma modifiers should be.

Off to read.

azr.

I must say that this week’s reading has started a bit on the underwhelming side, but still, I’m just 27 pages away from today’s quota, nothing impressive, to say the least, but as long as I have the ability to at least get those 178 daily pages, the rest should follow.

For example, my reading for week 41 ,which ended yesterday, gave me a total of 1,255 pages, not that I complain about getting past the minimal quota for the week, but only 9 extra pages will simply not do, not if I plan to raise the hypothetical 64,000-page trophy at the end of the year.

But the best thing is to focus on what you did today, like getting the month of March a bit closer to its quota. Right now, it sits comfortably at 4,125 pages, which represents almost 3/4 of the total for the month, and if I’m not mistaken, the rhythm is a bit ahead of schedule, still, if the intention is to get the aforementioned trophy, March should at least finish with 2,700 extra pages on its books.

With that in mind, I’ll better get back to my reading that today has been thru a few things, starting with Robin Hobb’s The Ship of Magic, a bit of H.P. Lovecraft, the first issue of the highly recommended Izuna, published by the French publisher Humanoids, it has a bit of a vibe of the Jungle Book, but a bit edgier. But what will help me close out the night will be one of the few superheroes from Marvel Comics that still grab my attention, I’m talking about the leather clad Spirit of Vengeance known as the Ghost Rider in one of its earliest incarnation, haunting Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman that sold his soul to the Devil

This particular volume compiles his first adventures on the series Marvel Spotlight, published between 1971 and 1972, under the helm of comic book legends Roy Thomas and Michael Ploog, and the first issues of his solo comic book, as always, this type of story catches really quickly my attention.

There is much to do, and the clock on this day is quickly ticking away.

Off to read

azr

I’m only 35 pages away to fill my daily quota and 95 pages to mark this week on the win column. It was a pretty good day. Any day that I get to spend with my wife and kids is well worth putting my reading a bit on the back burner and just enjoying their precious company.

Now that things have quiet down, I’ll put my head toward getting those remaining pages to finish the week strongly and preparing for the final stretch of the path toward the first major event of the year, Tolkien Reading Day, which is next Saturday, and to be completely honest, I haven’t quite settled in what to read or how the celebration is going to play out, but there’s still time to whip something up.

For today’s final session, my focus will be on the current graphic novel that I started reading this morning, Dragon Age Omnibus, based on the best-selling role-playing video game developed by BioWare that takes place in the fictional continent of Thedas. I’m not so familiar with the video game series, but judging from what I have read so far, it made me what to go and check it out.

I’ll put my remaining energy towards finishing the more than 100 pages left on the story, and if I don’t succumb to quickly to sleep, I’ll probably squeeze a session from Robin Hobb’s The Ship of Magic, this is one of two books that I would love to finish before the weekend to have my total attention on whichever book from Tolkien’s universe I decide to immerse myself into.

If everything goes according to plan, and if I play my cards right, there’s a strong possibility that my monthly quota can be achieved a week early, giving me space to try to knock off some of those pesky surplus pages accumulated from past months.

Right now, my total for March sits comfortably at 3,871 pages, which represents 70% of the total quota, leaving only 1,647 pages to read, hence my optimism to getting it done by the weekend.

Off to read.

azr

Yesterday, I broke my 16-day streak of reading 178 or more pages, being this my minimal daily quota for getting to the ultimate goal for the year. Fortunately, I did read 87 pages, so the other goal of having 490 consecutive days without any blank days still holds.

Right now, I have 111 total pages for the day and am still working toward restarting the streak to hold on to it for more than the measly 16 days that hold my current record of most consecutive days. With these two totals of reading, the month of March now sits at 3,702 total pages, representing a little over 67%, still pretty great results.

For my weekly reading quota, there’s still 263 pages left, with a few hours of total and the whole of a lazy Sunday to do so, I think there’s a pretty good chance to get it done.

I’ll be jumping between Robin Hobb’s The Ship of Magic and H.P. Lovecraft Collection to try and chip away at these two bog reward books. Also, I’ll throw some of the Delcourt comics series Dwarves into the mix to help as a palate cleanser from the more heavy-duty reading those two books represent. So far, it has helped to have this rhythm of reading, being that I have already finished volume five of the amazing series, and the sixth volume is just about to get done, I’ll stick to what is working.

I know that sometimes my tone comes out as a bit defeated, but nothing is farther from the truth than that. It’s just that I know that the results can be better. What I’m super excited to share is that today, we finally recorded the second episode of the podcast Estrellas y Dragones. In this particular episode, we tackle some ancient history of the vast and prolific universe of Warhammer Fantasy and give our impressions on the second volume of The Adventures of Gotrek and Felix, if you’re interested in hearing us rant for about an hour, click on the link below.

Hope you enjoy this latest installment.

Off to read.

azr