Category: Reading Tasks

More self imposed reading marathons

Although in the last time-based marathon I barely surpassed the midway mark, as you can attest from the image below, but what it did to boost my motivation for reading was far more important than to hit the whole 49 hours that was the goal.

I mean, almost 26 hours in 10 days, not a small chunk of change, which included November 2 with the amazing total of 446 pages.

My plan for the remaining 58 days of 2021, yeah you guess it right, more reading marathons. To start things off, my plan is to read a daily average of 3 hours, that would give around 180 hours to complete by December 31.

This is going to include at least 4 page-based marathons, one around Thanksgiving, which include eating massive amounts of turkey, one around December 6, which marks the halfway point of this year of reading, and the other two, which becomes a two-headed monster, and it revolves around Christmas and New Year’s Eve, this is probably my favorite of the year, it’s filled with good food, lots of drinking, a lot of new books as presents, and more importantly, lots of amazing traditions with my lovely wife and kids.

Time to tackle those 178 hours and hopefully by the end of the year, I´ll be looking at around 37,000 total pages.

Off to read.

azr.

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The plot thickens

As November starts, I find myself with some unexpected challenges in this year’s reading journey.

By now I should be around 26,000 total pages for the year, the reality of things is that my current count is 21,567, some 4,000 pages behind schedule, and as a new month begins, the projected total sums up quite the hefty sum.

The challenge, in November, is to read 9,754 pages to get back on track, I’m well aware that it is a monumental task, but now more than ever my mindset is more than ready to take on this seemingly impossible task.

And to start off things with a bang, I’ll take on what it seems like a really stupid idea, which in my mind sounds like the perfect plan to tackle the sheer amount of pages in front of me, get thru the remaining hours of my Spooktober reading marathon.

Being that sleeping is overrated, I’ll take these two remaining days to close-out my favorite time of the year in style.

Off to read.

azr

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Spooktober reading marathon update

My reading this passed few days have been underwhelming to say the least. Of the 49 proposed hour, I have only gone thru 3 and a half hours

But that is the least of my worries, there´s still 2,431 pages left on my October reading goal, and 5,012 pages to get back on track. The good news is that my weekend, starting tomorrow, looks pretty clear, some intense late night reading sessions are in order, maybe even some outings to some local coffee house, there are a few quiet and cozy places to read the afternoon away.

My focus today is to finish with this year´s traditional reading of Frankenstein, currently on page 205 of 260, and if my eyes can holdout, finish with the second volume of the Enderverse, La voz de los muertos, currently on page 388 of 451, finishing either one would get me back on track with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.

Big plans for one of my favorite time of the year.

Off to read.

azr.

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Spooktober marathon

It’s finally here, the week leading up to Halloween and Dia de Muertos, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a 9 day reading marathon.

The rules are quite simple, complete 49 hours of reading by the end of November 2 and maintain as much as possible the Science Fiction theme of the year, if there’s some space horror to throw into the mix, it would be just perfect.

To keep track of the hours left, I’ll use the really handy timer plus app. So, the clock is set.

Let’s go get those remaining October pages and more.

Off to read.

azr.

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2,814 pages

I start the final stretch of October with 2,814 pages left to read, this, from the 5,518 projected as the minimal total for this month. That gives around 312 daily pages to read, which is really doable, just need some focus, and large quantities of caffeine.

To keep the tradition of this time, I started reading this year’s edition of Frankenstein, a present from a couple of my dearest friends, makes this all that more special. This particular edition is from Nordica Libros, a publishing house from Spain, and its beautifully illustrated by Elena Odriozola.

Another delightful surprise is that this edition contains introductions from Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Shelley, and if I´m not mistaking, it’s the first time I read side by side.

I’ll take this days to also close the Aliens Omnibus series, currently about to start volume number 4, right after I finish the first volume of the manga Ghost in the Shell.

The only left is to make the list for the movie marathon form Halloween to Día de Muertos and I will be set, on top of the list is ParaNorman by request from my two kids, there’s also James Whale’s classic, Frankenstein, but from there everything is pretty much open territory.

Now to tackle those pages.

Off to read.

azr

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79 pages

If at this hour you would tell that my total was 79 pages, my initial though would be that is not bad for a busy Thursday.

But the reality is that my total for the whole week is those measly 79 pages, including another blank day.

By now, I should be close to 24,500 total pages for the year, with almost 4,000 pages of deficit. My focus is to close the gap by one of one of my favorite time of the year, Monster Mash, that begins with Halloween and ends with Día de Muertos.

I have some catching up to do.

Off to read.

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20,000 pages , and just getting started

I have finally reach another milestone on this year of reading, 20,000 total pages.

Not the milestone to break open the champagne, or the red wine in my case, but it’s an important stepping stone toward the broader goal of the year, and a much needed wisp of fresh air to fill my being with renew hope.

To keep on rolling on this high, I will attempt to knock-off at least 1,000 pages of the backed-up pages from passed weeks, and get my reading back on schedule, which as of now, it’s 4,250 pages behind schedule, but first things first, read the remaining 608 pages left to reach this week’s quota, and then, take a little off the top.

To help me along the way, there’s some amazing things helping me out, from a couple of French Comic Books, Clockwerx and the Ark, the latter part of the material that got me over 20,000 pages-

To the classic Manga, Ghost in the Shell, which I’m currently reading while listening to Mr. Nick Cave´s solo performance in Alexandra Palace, Idiot Prayer.

And top off the night the award-winning novella Binti, written by the Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and it’s sequels both were nominated for the Hugo Award in their respective years. I am about halfway thru it, and is quickly escalating to the top of the best book of this year of reading.

There’s still some intense reading to close-out the day with a strong progress, but with such good material, and a couple of really strong black coffee, this night is shaping up to be a really good one.

Off to read.

azr.

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First blank day of the year

Yesterday, after a 93 straight days of reading, I recorded my first blank day of the year, meaning, zero pages of reading.

I had a really busy week, and came last night, I didn’t have the energy or mood to pick up any of the things in my reading queue.

I think that’s the perfect cue to take a bit of a hiatus, this start to my year of reading has been all pedal to the metal, it’s time to chill the fuck up.

Nevertheless, I’ll keep on reading, maybe not at the same pace, or keep on posting my progress each week, but I’ll regroup to take on my standing reading challenges head on.

See you soon.

azr.

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14 down, 38 to go

I’m more that glad to say that the 52 books in 52 weeks is not on schedule, actually, it is ahead of schedule.

Yesterday I finished reading book number 14, and consequently the last of the three books by Ernest Cline that were on my TBR pile for this year of sci-fi reading.

Armada is the tale of an intergalactic battle game that pins the greatest hot-shot pilots since Top Gun against the extraterrestrial menace coming from Jupiter’s moon Europa, little do the top 10 ranking players that this war simulation will quickly transform into a struggle for the very insistence of humanity.

The story moves in a brisk pace, following the quick deployment of Zack Lightman and his high flying battles in space against the extraterrestrial threat, the story a little bit like a tribute to Ender’s Game with the familiar splash of pop-culture knowledge that was so central to the other two novels by Mr. Cline.

This is just a fun ride and a great weekend read, I did find missing some of the subtleties and questions that Ready Player One and Two posse of the nature of our existence against the vastness of the universe, but sometimes a book should be just and escape from reality.

This week I’ll start one of the most challenging books of this year’s reading, Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons, this particular volume contain the first two books of the award winning series, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, totaling a whopping 929 pages. Judging by the first chapter I read, some of the most disturbing thing I have read in awhile, the length of the book will not be problem, for the first push got me to page 89, the perfect way to get things rolling for Monday.

Which remains me to upload the latest update of my numbers.

Off to read

azr

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Another milestone for (Y-14)

In between all my sucky progress in this year reading, I still somehow managed to pass another milestone for the year, reaching 15,000 pages on the year.

My current total is 15,199 which represents a 23% of the total projected for this year of reading, that’s 64,942 pages, with the start of a new month comes both the excitement and nervousness of seeing how the final tally was. Well as you can imagine, it was not exactly what I hope for.

August was kind of a bumpy ride, my final total of net pages was 4,330 of the 5,518 projected for the month, it would seem not that big of a deal, that 1,188 pages deficit, but as the month pass, that can accumulate really fast.

So I start the month of September with 5,340 projected pages, and thanks to the positive numbers of the first two month, my total to reach balance will be 5,791 pages, not bad considering all the self imposed drama.

I even bought a bottle of wine to celebrate this little achievement, celebratory drinks over the weekend.

Off to read.

azr.

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