Book Shelfs, Part Two

I made a little progress in unpacking some of my books, that’s the good news.

Now I came to realize that I have a lot and that’s not the bad news, you can never have too many books.

What you can have is too little shelf room, that’s really the bad news.

So I had to improvise a little.

As you can see the space in the book case filled up rapidly, so I had to convert some cardboard boxes into temporary shelf.

I hope to finish this week so my reading space can get back to normal.

For now I will keep using the dinner table as my reading spot

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Book One 2013, Suttree

I started this year of reading on the right track.

It’s only the second day of the year and I have already finish the first book on the list.

The first book on the list was Suttree by Cormac McCarthy, he is one of my favorite, it is a bit difficult to read but his style is truly a thing of beauty.

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You visually, through the eyes of Cornelius Suttree, a ever-moving river fill with

 life,death, humor and a cast of outcast trying to survive in the banks of the Tennessee River near Knoxville. Mr. Suttree has forsaken a life of privilege for a never peaceful life in a rundown houseboat. There he is witness to the harsh reality of living in the margins of society.

As always Mr. McCarthy style,deep and rich vocabulary takes you on a journey you will not easily forget.  I can understand without a doubt why he is considered a genius. I highly recommend this book, it’s not easy reading a novel by Cormac McCarthy but it is something you should never pass the opportunity to do.

Now on to the next book, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

So that’s 3809 pages down, 45,933 pages to go.

Total Pages 115,389 pages

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2013: the 50 book year

Like every new year I pledge to read a bit more that the year before.

It doesn’t always work-out

For this year my goal is to read the astounding sum of 50 books, that is roughly one book per week.

But to make things more interesting I’m picking some heavy reads

After much deliveration I came to a list and it goes as follow:

  1. Suttree by Cormac McCarhy
  2. The Sounds and the Fury by William Faulkner
  3. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
  4. El viaje del elefante by José Saramago
  5. El Mago by Michael Scott
  6. Casi un objeto by José Saramago
  7. Manual de pintura y caligrafía by José Saramago
  8. Todos los nombres by José Saramago
  9. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
  10. Rayuela by Julio Cortazar
  11. No Country for Old Man by Cormac McCarthy
  12. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  13. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
  14. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
  15. The Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
  16. Paradise Lost by John Milton
  17. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
  18. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
  19. Las Arenas de Amón by Valerio Massimo Manfredi
  20. Los Pilares de la Tierra by Ken Follett
  21. The October Country by Ray Bradbury
  22. Dark Carnival by Ray Bradbury
  23. Farewell Summer by Ray Bradbury
  24. Claraboya by José Saramago
  25. La silla del aguila by Carlos Fuentes
  26. Federico en su balcón by Carlos Fuentes
  27. Infancia by J.M. Coetzee
  28. Tropico de Cancer by Henry Miller
  29. The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
  30. Verguenza by Salman Rushdie
  31. La ciudad y los perros by Mario Vargas Llosa
  32. La cabeza del Hidra by Carlos Fuentes
  33. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
  34. The Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
  35. Gracias por el fuego by Mario Benedetti
  36. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
  37. El Color de fuera del Espacio by H.P. Lovecraft
  38. 1984 by George Orwell
  39. El poder de las tinieblas by John Connolly
  40. Frankenstein: Prodigal Son by Dean Knootz
  41. Salem Lot by Stephen King
  42. Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
  43. Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock
  44. El Viejo y el Mar by Ernest Hemingway
  45. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  46. El Llano en Llamas by Juan Rulfo
  47. Ulyses by James Joyce
  48. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
  49. Soy Leyenda by Richard Matheson
  50. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

That is the particular order I’m going to read them, some I have in print, others as e-book, but to say that is going to be a challenge is a bit of an understatement.

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Jonathan Strange,the 3,000 pages and a very long post

After a much deserved break is good to be back.

As you can imagine I have quite a few things to report.

First and foremost I finally finish reading one of my mountain book, “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke.

The definition, in my view anyway, of a mountain book is simple, because they are difficult but rewarding reads, just like a hard climb, you may struggle to reach the top but when you get there the view is amazing.

Getting back to the book, it is an amazing fantasy story that intertwines the lifes and magic of two gentleman, Gilbert Norrell and Jonathan Strange, both destined to revive English magic all of this in the ever present shadow of the Raven King, the greatest magician of all time. It uses elements of that period of  history, 19th century England around the Napoleonic Wars, and merges them with an expectional cast of characters, from mad magician to treacherous fairies.

This is one of the best fantasy book I have ever read, it will always hold a place next to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

I also finish reading another book, ” The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel: The Alchemyst” is the first of an six book series. It follows the story of twin brothers and how their paths came across the famous alchemyst. They are suddenly thrown into a world of petty magician and dangerous ancient gods. The most impressive parts are when the goddess Morrigan makes her appearance and the stunning presence of Yggdrasill-the world tree-.

In sum both of this books put me over 3,000 pages in Year Five of Lost in a Million Pages.

So that’s 3,338 pages down, 46,404 pages to go.

Total Pages 114,918 pages.

 

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Down Time

Right now I’m taking a break, have been reading a lot.

In the coming week I will post some of my progress.

For now back to reading, eating and taking things slowly.

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Carlos Fuentes and the 2,000 pages

Yesterday morning I finished reading one of the master pieces of latin american literature, La Región más Transparente by the now late mexican writter Carlos Fuentes.

It’s a sweeping chronicle of the post-revolutionary situation of one of the largest cities in the world, Mexico City.

Fuentes reconstructs this fractured city through the lives and memories of the different characters that inhabits it’s caotic street.

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From a humble taxi driver to a influential lawyer Fuentes manages to capture the different layers of mexican society in a beautifully poetical and haunting way.

This has been one of the best books I have read in a long while.

The other news is that I have reach 2,000 pages on this fifth year of Lost in a million pages.

 

So that’s 2,248 pages down, 47,494 pages to go.

Total Pages 113,828 pages

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Book Shelfs, Part One

The not so great part of moving is that you have to pack, in our case for the most part the boxes sitting around are fill with books, which is awesome but kind of a pain in the ass when is time to organize them.

The challenge is that back in the old apartment we had a custom made bookshelf on the wall of the living room that housed most of the books.

So what to do here.

IMPROVISE!!!!

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First 1,000 pages

With the good news that I have reach my first 1,000 pages of this the fifth year of my goal, it was a bit slow but I have pick up the pace.

It also helped the I got some Graphic Novels that I haven’t read. Three great volume of the Goon series, written by Eric Powell, and Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity, written by the comic legend Matt Wagner.

So that’s 1,226 pages down, 48,516 to go.

Total Pages 112,806 

 

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Happy Birthday Neil

Today is the birthday of my favorite author Mr. Neil Gaiman.

I first read Neil’s Sandman around 1999 and started with Brief Lives, and to say I was hook is an understatement. His rich and deep worlds captured me and I have no plans to ever leave them.

It was is novel American Gods that consolidated me as a live long fan and is actually the last piece of literature that I plan to read to reach 1,000,000 pages (yeah that’s how much I love this novel).

In celebration I’m going to start reading (again) Absolute Sandman Vol. 1

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Some suggested reading :

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4407.American_Gods

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23753.The_Absolute_Sandman_Vol_1

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Slow Climb

So today I finally reach the half-way point of one of my mountain book, this particular one is my Mount Everest.

I started reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on the 20th of August and almost 3 months later I have reach the middle, don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful and intricated story and I have enjoy every bit of it.

This mouth-full of a book was written by the talented Susanna Clarke.

I hope that the other half doesn’t take me another 3 months.

For now I will keep reading

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