(Y-11) The seed is planted.

Yesterday’s reading was up to par.

My total for the day was 171 pages, and that brings up my total for the year to 10,484 pages.

I have kept the momentum flowing, and my streak is nearing 40 days with 146 or more pages read per day.

The only book that I finished yesterday was the third volume of Shadowman, this particular volume focuses more on short stories, but it is still, in my humble opinion, the best title of Valiant Comics.

In the book front, I could not reach my goal for the day, yet again, I am currently on page 292, but I’ll strive to finish it by the weekend.

And one last thing, I am really excited because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first story of my all-time favorite comic book character, Hellboy.

I plan to commemorate such a joyous occasion, more information on my plans coming really soon.

The other thing related to Hellboy is that this month a new collection of his extraordinary adventures has begun to hit the shelves in Mexico.

Of course, starting with the now classic Seed of Destruction.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the next volumes.

But for now, I’ll get back to reading and planning the themes for each of my reading sessions of the 24in48 readathon.

Good Night

azr.

7 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) Five out of Five

Yesterday was yet another great day in several aspects.

First of all my team, the Indianapolis Colts prevailed in their playoff game over the Houston Texans with a score of 21 to 7 and lived to play another day, that is against the Kansas City Chiefs next Saturday.

In between watching all of the NFL action, which continues again today, I managed to also read, my total for yesterday was 181 pages.

I finished the first volume of the hilarious series Quantum & Woody, part of the Valiant Comics Universe, it was a breath of fresh air from more serious series I have been reading.

Here is the infographic sheet generated with Bookly.

With this graphic novel, my total page count for the year went up, and it is currently 10,331 pages, and I am now only 15 days behind my reading schedule, which I know that that gap will drastically be reduced with the 24in48 readathon.

Also, the streak of reading more than 146 has extended to 5 days out of 5 days of January, and it can be traced back to the first day of December of last year, so that gives me 36 consecutive days of excellent reading.

On the book front, I reached page 273, and of the planned 56 pages to read yesterday I only read 21.

My plan remains solid to finish Deadhouse Gates by next Saturday, so my page count for today must be 61 pages.

I have put two new graphic novels on my queue, this time it is volumes three and four on the extraordinary series from Valiant Comics, Shadowman, written respectively by Justin Jordan and the legendary Peter Milligan.

Just by looking at the covers I am excited.

Today will be pretty similar as yesterday, watch some football, eat, stay in my cozy bed and of course read some fantastic stories.

Happy Readings and enjoy your Sunday.

For us in Ciudad Juarez will be a cloudy one.

azr.

6 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) The First 10,000 pages

I am so excited that I finally reach the first milestone of my eleventh year of this project.

It was the fastest of all of the years that I have been keeping track of, remember I started this personal quest back on 2008.

In took me 84 days to reach it, and 2 books, 36 comic books, and 40 graphic novels to sum-up that number of pages.

Now my entire focus is to reach the first 250,000 pages, which is currently under 6,000 pages to go.

Well, yesterday’s reading was another success, 191 total pages, and I finished the third volume of Archer & Armstrong form the Valiant Comics Universe.

It just keeps on getting better and better.

Here are the stats from Bookly.

On the book front, I reached page 252, that is past 1/3 of the total length of the books, and with this goal achieved, I am now focusing on giving priority to finishing this amazing chapter of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

With that in mind, I set a due date, it is next Saturday, January 12.

That is 56 pages a day, no excuses and no other reading before I reach that daily number, I know it sounds pretty strict, but I love to put that sort of pressure on myself.

After finishing this second book, I am contemplating getting into the next chapter of one of my favorite character in fantasy, Drizzt Do’Urden.

The next four books, Gauntlgrym, Neverwinter, Charon’s Claw, and The Last Threshold.

And one graphic novel, Neverwinter Tales, comprise the storyline known as The Neverwinter Saga.

This will be an interlude because after finishing this saga of the rogue Drow, I’ll jump right back into The Malazan Book of the Fallen, and the pound thru every book left.

Well, now I’ll get back to reading, celebrating my huge achievement and hopefully watching the Indianapolis Colts move on to the next round of the NFL playoffs.

Happy Readings!!!

azr.

5 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) Just one small breath.

Yesterday was yet another fantastic day of reading.

On top of finishing The End of the Fxxxing World, I also read the second volume of the terrific series Archer & Armstrong, part of the Valiant Comics Universe.

This gave me a total of 360 pages for the day, and with this, I kept the reading streak alive, one day at a time.

On the book front, I made some headway, 12 pages, currently on page 234, I know, not ideal, but I’ll take it.

Now to talk about my total for the year and how close I am to the first significant milestone, the coveted 10,000 pages.

Well, the total up until this moment is 9,998.

Just one small step and I’ll reach it.

To close out the night, I’ll finish the third volume of Archer & Armstrong and keep on wandering thru the Malaz Empire.

Happy Readings!!!

azr.

4 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) Two out of Two

All streaks begin with two straight days of achieving something, at first glance, it might not seem as much, but it is the humble start of something more significant.

A 365-day reading streak always begins with two days on a row, and for me that is the end game, to read at least 146 pages daily for 365 days, one day after another.

I know it is quite ambitious, but I do love a good challenge.

So, I’ll take it just like now, one day at a time.

And on that note, I should say that yesterday’s total was 165 pages and I have reached 9,650 pages for this eleventh year of reading, this is, of course, thanks to the fact that I finished the first volume of Transmetropolitan and had a bit of headway with Deathhouse Gates.

Currently on page 228, and with plans to close out the night with this terrific book.

And for this third day of 2019, I am glad to say that the 146 pages mark has already been surpassed, mainly thanks to quick and ferocious read that is The End of the Fxxxing World, the acclaimed graphic novel by Charles Forsman, that was adapted to a mini-series on Netflix.

Simple in its framing, it explores some deep and dark pathways of the human condition, a must for any graphic novel lover.

The next two graphic novels on my queue are volumes two and three of Archer & Armstrong, part of the Valiant Comics Universe that I pretend to transverse the coming months, this particular series, along with Eternal Warrior, is one of my favorites of all of the Valiant comics line.

Let’s see how these two volumes hold-up.

With this steady pace of reading and the fact that I have quite a bit of material available to read, I do see myself breaking thru the 10,000-page mark before this weekend ends.

There are only 350 pages in my way and three days to do it.

Let’s get cracking.

azr.

P.S.

I haven’t put up a numbers recap in a while, so, here you go.

Total pages for (Y-11) : 9,650 pages.
Pages to go to achieve first milestone (10,000 pages): 350 pages.
Pages to go to achieve the main goal of the year (53,000 pages): 43,350 pages.
Pages to go to be the second-best year of reading (32,001 pages): 22,351 pages.
Pages to go to be the best year of reading (47,705 pages): 38,055 pages.

Now back to chasing those pages.

3 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) Up and running

I started the year at the same pace as I finished last year.

My total reading for yesterday 248 pages and my total for the year went up to 9,506 pages.

I finished reading the third volume of X-O Manowar, still going on strong, I was amazed at how much I like it.

Also, I started reading what is considered one of the best comic book written by Warren Ellis, Transmetropolitan.

Spider Jerusalem has to go back to the city, and he is really pissed about it.

On the book front, I did something that hasn’t happen in a long time, read more than 25 pages in one day.

Currently on page 201.

Also, I had a bit of time and did some updates on my bullet journal.

Things are brightening up.

My goals of reading writing remain the same, try to read 146 daily pages and write at least once a day in this blog.

Now back to reading.

azr.

2 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) Happy New Year

I hope your new year’s celebration was a blast and you are as psyched for the year to come.

I spent mine in bed, doing some binge watching with my wife, we decided to start watching Supernatural from the first season up to the thirteen, which the last available to stream on Prime Video.

But I also, in between breaks, I spend it reading.

An I am glad to inform you that it was my best day of all of the 31 from this, vacation period.

The total was 434 pages, this is thanks to that I finished the third volumes of Harbinger and Bloodshot, an all-out war of the psiops.

Also, I read three comic books by extraordinary writer and illustrator Becky Cloonan, these three stories are from her creator-owned series Ink and Thunder, whichever you choose they are fantastic, or better yet, read all three.

Also, I made a bit of headway with Deadhouse Gates, 19 pages, and currently on page 159, also I will be using a new app to track my reading, it is called Bookly, and my intention is to generate an infographic report of each book I read, which is one of the main things that attracted me to the app.

Let’s see how it plays out.

And with all of this reading, my total crossed the 9,000 page-mark.

9,300 to be precise, which gives me a lot of satisfaction, because at the beginning of December I set out to reach 8,000 pages and came out at the other end with much more.

In going thru my number for December, I came up with a total of 6,325 pages read that month, and all of the days above my minimum daily average, I just can see by the graphic below.

Yes, I made a graphic, don’t judge me.

A very productive month I must say, I know that this is an atypical month, being almost all without school, at least in my case, but if I could only replicate a couple of time a year, I will be in great shape.

Concerning my reading schedule, and again thanks to this reading spurt, I am now only 17 days behind from the original calculations, and hopefully, by the end of January, this will be reduced dramatically.

Now I want to talk about how my last year of reading, 2018 of course, because as I have explained on other posts, the year of reading for my projects begins and ends in October.

Anyway, I’ll start with stats from Goodreads.

I won’t spoil any of the fun so you can check it out this pretty cool infographic. Here you can see my year of reading on Goodreads.

Just one thing, I did complete my goal of reading 100 books.

And for next year, I’ll keep the number at 100 and hopefully surpass it with flying colors, as I did this year.

On WordPress, my blog did fantastic, its best year to date.

I wrote 175 posts, which amount to 29,299 words, a whopping 20,000 more words than 2017, I have been doing my work and enjoying every single second of it.

The site received 70% more hits than 2017, which had a total of 626, compared to 1,062 from this year.

That I know, it could be small numbers to some, but for me, they are glorious.

The top three countries I received visits from were: The United States, Mexico (my country) and The United Kingdom, also, some happy surprises of countries that I have reached, like India or Finland, thanks to all for reading.

So those are basically my stats for last year of blogging, in 2019 I hope to double down on my writing, and hopefully, this would reach more of persons in my effort to share this experience, for which I am truly grateful that so many take the time to read it.

Now for the near future of Lost in a Million Pages, let me tell you that I have big plans.

First of all, and in the context of the 24in48 readathon I will be participating at the end of January, I decided to start hosting little events with the idea to promote the literary and coffee culture that is becoming quite strong in my city, Ciudad Juarez, that is in Mexico.

I’ll start small, hosting a reading party for one of the sessions of the 24in48 readathon, this of course in one of my favorite local coffee house, more information coming soon.

The other thing is that probably by the end of March or the beginning of April I will reach 250,000 pages.

I am 7,673 pages from achieving it, and right now I am working with an artist friend to commemorate this joyous occasion, as with my events more information coming soon and a preview of the fantastic work he is doing.

So, I have a lot on my plate for this upcoming year.

But for now, I’ll kick back and enjoy so reading and gear up for what appears to be a busy and exciting year.

Happy Readings!!!

azr.

1 January, 2019 0

(Y-11) Last day of 2018 (Day 31 of 31)

This is the last day of this year, although my reading year still has 287 days ahead of it, the change of a calendar year it is something eventful.

I am pleased to inform that yesterday, thanks partly again to my insomnia, was a magnificent day of reading and I finished a couple of graphic novels.

First of them was one of the cross-over events of Valiant comics universe between Harbinger and Bloodshot, it was all out war and beautifully written by Joshua Dysart.

The second one took me to a not so pleasant trip to Angelville, where Jesse and Tulip had to endure Mr. Custer’s psychopathic family, only Garth Ennis can write those types of scenes.

Thanks to these two graphic novels I had my best day yet, 374 pages and this elevated my total to 8,885 pages for the year.

I’ll aim to reach 9,000 pages by the end of the day, just 115 pages to go, it should not be a problem.

On the book front, I only read 8 pages, currently on page 140.

Being the last day of my micro-project, of reading the minimum daily average, which is 146 pages per day, I think the first week of January will be perfect opportunity to dedicate my reading efforts solely to Deadhouse Gates.

And lastly, the gap in my reading schedule has closed down a bit more. Currently, I am 19 days behind, slow and steady wins the race.

I’ll probably go thru the third volume of Harbinger and ring in the new year with a Harry Potter marathon.

I hope you enjoy whichever are your plans for the new year’s celebration, stay safe out there.

Happy Readings!!!

azr

31 December, 2018 0

(Y-11) Down the stretch (Day 30 of 31)

Yesterday’s reading was pretty decent, I had a total of 164 pages.

I did not finish anything yesterday, so my total stays the same, and I have fallen a day behind on my reading schedule, which now is 22 days.

On the positive side, I reached page 132 of Deadhouse Gates, the most progress in a few days, and read the better part of the first volume of the Spanish version of Preacher by Garth Ennis, this particular version compiles the first 12 issues of this now classic Vertigo Comics series.

The interior art of Steve Dillon and the fantastic cover art by Glen Fabry just put the cherry on top of a tremendous series.

The menacing Saint of Killers in his quest to hunt down Jesse Custer.

Today will be dedicated to finishing the first volume of Preacher, making some headway with Deadhouse and hopefully watching my team, the Indianapolis Colts, reach the NFL playoffs.

Happy Readings!!!

azr.

30 December, 2018 0

(Y-11) Winter is here (Day 29 of 31)

Yesterday’s reading was spectacular, my total was 344 pages, officially makes it the best of all this season of reading.

This was thanks to my insomnia and that I put it to good use and finished a couple of volumes of the Valiant comics universe, this time it was the second volume of Harbinger, Renegades, and the second volume of Bloodshot, The Rise and the Fall.

These volumes where just build-up for the first major event of this fantastic universe, The Harbinger Wars, written by the authors responsible for the two series mentioned above, Joshua Dysart and Duane Swierczynski, it looks promising.

Thanks to this my new total for the year is 8,377 pages, and I am behind 21 days behind schedule, as I was saying little by little the gap is closing down.

On the book front, again I had a dreadful day, only 9 pages and I am currently on page 110.

But seeing the forecast for today.