It’s no secret that Neil Gaiman is my favorite author.

I became hooked to his work around 1998 when I first read volume 7 of his critically acclaim comic book series The Sandman and to be honest nothing was ever the same for me.

He proves that you can take literary elements that are considered inferior or only for cheap literature (like fantasy and horror) and elevated them into some really rich, dark and beautiful writing. No one, expect maybe Stephen King, does it as good as Neil.

But my real descent into being an absolute fan-boy was in 2001 when his Hugo and Nebula award winning novel got published, of course I’m talking about American Gods (soon to be a TV-series), there aren’t enough praises for this behemoth of a book, just go out buy it and read it.

I have 3 different versions of the book and is the one I plan to read it as the last in order to finish my goal of 1,000,000 pages

Here I’m only missing a picture of the 10 year anniversary edition.

So in commemoration of Mr. Gaiman’s birthday I’m going to start reading The Sandman: Overture, a book that has been taunting me for almost a year, just sitting there looking all pretty in my shelf.

Happy Readings!!!

azr

In the wake of remembering past year of this my crazy project I found some pictures of my former reading space. We used to lived in a small apartment it was really cozy and full of good times, but, with the growth of our family we needed more room.

Here is my desk litter with comic books and graphic novels.

My bookshelf in my old apartment (photo via instagram)

Is always great to remember.

Happy Readings!!!

azr

The first pull of weeks is behind me and the outcome, although really productive , isn’t quite where I want it.

The monumental nature of this year reading (and next one as well) kind of overshadows a week where I read 500 pages, but this shouldn’t be a discouragement, it has become more fuel for the fire.

My total for this three weeks is 1,612. Has I have mention in other post comic books are back in the mix and this year is only getting better.

From last year list I have finished two books, The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, which is a real treat to read, it captures the life (and “death”) of Lestat of Lioncourt, the egotistical vampire we came to love to hate from Interview with the Vampire. The second one was El evangelio según Jesucristo by José Saramago, in which the story of the messiah is re-imagined, if you are deeply rooted in catholic belief this might offend you. I for one found it beautifully written and quite challenging because it dwells more in the inner workings of such a iconic figure in history.

My list of book for (Y-9) is finally set, some book from last year, some Nobel Laureates, some goodies that I haven’t read in a few years and also the return of a Classic that last year I couldn’t read as part of my tradition.

The list goes as follow:

26 in total, the one in red are the already finished.

The returning classic is none other the Frankenstein an illustrated version in spanish.

Also I have found some new Star Wars comic books to plum-up my hoarding stash, lots to read and lots more to find.

Right now I’ll keep working on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Star Wars Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire ( a really cool graphic novel), Las lunas de Júpiter by Alice Munro (short story extraordinaire) and some digital comic books on comixology to pass the long waiting periods.

So here are the number for this period:

• Total pages for  the ninth year : 1,612 pages
• Days left for the ninth year: 344 days
• Books left for the eight year: 24 books
• Pages left to read in my goal for the eight year: 55,384 pages
• Total pages of Lost in a million pages: 185,266 pages

Happy Readings!!!!

azr

To start off one of this year side project I’ll start with the winner of 2013, Alice Munro.

She is famous for her short stories, the book is a collection of some of her work.

Feeling good about this new year. 

Happy Readings!!!

azr

Another year under my belt and I feel content (yes, just content) with the outcome. So here is a quick recap of how (Y-8) finished.

In the book front I read 43 of the 52 books in the list. That’s a book every 8.5 days, not that bad.

In the page front I read 16,509 pages of the 20,730 in the goal. That’s a 79.5%, again not that bad.

The longest book was 1Q84 (Book 1 and Book 2) by Haruki Murakami with 936 pages.

The shortest book was El extraño caseron en la niebla by H.P. Lovecraft with 91 pages.

The books that I couldn’t read this past year will be added to the list of (Y-9) and are the following:

• The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (currently reading)
• El Evangelio según Jesucristo by José Saramago (currently reading)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
• Memorial del Convento by José Saramago
• El Naranjo by Carlos Fuentes
• The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
• J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle-Earth by Daniel Grota
• Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Now moving to (Y-9), in previous posts I made a promise (to myself mostly) that in this 3 years leading up to the tenth anniversary of this crazy project, that I will read a total of 130,500 pages. With the total of (Y-8) that leaves 113,991 pages to read in two years. In average I’ll have to read a total 56,996 pages each year. The good news is that I’m back to reading graphic novels and comic-books so the page count with increase considerably.

So the path is lay-down in front of me, time to put the pedal to the metal.

Some side things I’ll do different for this year is what a call a “caffeine pilgrimage” , which consist basically in keeping track of my daily coffee intake (this is inspired in a comment of somebody that told me I drink way to much coffee) and also I plan to visit the various coffee houses that have pop-up recently all around town. The other I plan to read some of the works of recent Nobel in Literature Laureates that I haven’t read.

The preliminary list goes as thus:

• Tarantula by Bob Dylan (Nobel 2016)
• Voice from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich (Nobel 2015)
• Young Once by Patrick Modiano (Nobel 2014)
• La vida de las mujeres by Alice Munro (Nobel 2013)
• Sorgo Rojo by Mo Yan (Nobel 2012)
• The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller (Nobel 2009)
• Mondo and Other Stories by J.M.G. Le Clezio (Nobel 2008)
• My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (Nobel 2006)
• El Tambor de Hojalata by Günther Grass (Nobel 1999)

And finally, last week I went to the local Book Fair, it’s mainly organized by the local college UACJ (my alma mater) and it features national publishing houses ranging from literature to architectural books.

I found some real treats

Happy Readings!!!

azr

Well a bit of a shocker but in a good way, this year laureate was none other that Mr. Bob Dylan. 

Big fan of his music and in line to read his book Tarantula.

I’ll give you my thoughts later.

Happy Readings!!!

azr

This is the final evening of this chaotic eight year, so I’m just going to kick-back and relax with some reading.

Tomorrow I’ll make a quick recap of (Y-8 ) and the new ideas for (Y-9).

Now of to read that beautiful things await me for (Y-9)

Happy Readings!!!

azr

So I’m done with The Book of Lost Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien, as all of the book related to the creation of the mythology and history of Middle-Earth, is a glimpse to a really complex creative process that gave birth to one of the most famous worlds in literature. This is a more straightforward short story collection with a extensive commentary by Christopher Tolkien (the professor’s son).

The other two books I finish are part of a pretty cool collection that compiles most of H.P. Lovecraft’s work.

Both are really good books, but I liked better Horror en el museo , I’m just a sucker for any story that has to do with the Ancient Gods or the big bad boss Cthulhu.

So after finishing this three books the final count for the last 60 days of this my eight year is of 17 books. My reading has gone up and I feel confident that the goal shall be reach.

As the year comes to a close my final page count for the next two years becomes clearer. A while back I put a goal that in the next three years I will attempt to read 135,000 pages. Being the first year (Y-8) dedicated to reading 52 books and the next two years dedicated to reaching that monumental goal.

As of today I’m looking on 54,885 pages per year. So my main concern is to have enough material to read, but, as any respectable book addict, this does not bother me, it only gives me the opportunity ( or the excuse) to add to my ever-growing library.

To get the wheels turning I found some really cool Abe Sapien comics I haven’t read. So the madness thus begin.

Let’s see what the weekend brings my way.

In reading and new loot for my library

So here are the number for this period:

• Total pages for  the eight year : 13,880 pages
• Days left for the eight year: 60 days
• Books left for the eight year: 17 books
• Pages left to read in my goal for the eight year: 6,850 pages
• Total pages of Lost in a million pages: 181,021 pages

Happy Readings!!!

azr