Welcome to another installment of Magic Mondays, this will make it the fifth week on a row, and a clean sweep for the month of August. I do wish to write a bit more, but as long as this weekly post keeps on reaching you, I’ll call it a victory.

But enough complaining, let’s get into the progress for this week.

Concerning the thirteen week of the current year of reading, lets say that finally I’m back on the right, even if it’s only just barely. The total was 1,417 pages, that’s 66 pages more than the minimal total and a step in the right direction in order to cross some important thresholds. Again, Saturday was the best day of reading with a whopping 512 total pages.

Since I was reading some long haul book over the past few weeks, like the fifth volume of The War of the Spider Queen, Annihilation, the years total made a significant leap, ending with 14,668 pages and almost grazing the 15,000-page mark, which if everything goes according to plan, will be achieved by Wednesday.

The goal for this week, number fourteen of the nineteen year of this project, my goal is to do a few things, first, reach the aforementioned milestone, try to close out the month with the projection of pages covered, read at least 1,424 pages, and lastly, reach at least the halfway point of the last volume of The War of the Spider Queen, Resurrection. Quite the mouthful of a week, just the first step toward what I have in store for the year.

Jumping into the broader picture, and the big three milestones for this project, which are getting closer with each passing day, and in some monumental ways.

Let’s start with the most proximate one, the 700,000-page mark, the latest projection puts it at August 24 of 2027, that’s a leap from last week of 9 days earlier, and almost a year to the date to achieve it.

For the crown jewel of milestones, also known as the path of the phantom wolf, I’m not going into the name at this moment, but the incredible news are that the projection puts it now at the year 2028, on December 28 to be precise, that’s 10 days earlier than last week projection. Like I have been hinting on the last post, the tail end of this milestone is going to be followed by a life changing trip, accompanied by my partner in crime, that I know will help prepare for the last stage of my beloved project.

In doing research of one the various stops of the trip, I came across that, on the second stop, a volcanic landscape somewhere in New Mexico, is the backdrop of one of the spookiest scenes of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, a jagged hellish labyrinth of basalt rock that test the resilience of the Glanton Gang, even more reason to get lost in this fantastic landscape to get re-energized for the final leg of things.

And speaking of final legs, the big boy, or the 1,000,000-page mark, as with the other three milestones, there was significant progress. The current projection puts it on September 24, 2035, that’s a 14-day gain, making me only 4 years, 3 months and 19 days behind the coveted date of my 50th birthday and the deadline of the project.

Now that we covered the main story, let’s make room for my current side-quests and the fuel of the amazing headway achieved over the past few weeks.

For side quest number one, the 49-hour timed reading challenge, the clock fortunately did keep on moving. It came down from a little over 20 hours left to 10 hours 41 minutes and 3 seconds to read, that’s over 9 hours of progress in the week, in order to open the prize of two amazing stories .

For side quest number two, the bane of my existence, better known as the 100,000-page year, the road ahead is still a bumpy one, with 85,532 pages left on the challenge, that’s around 2,188 pages per week for the rest of the year. This particular side quest is both a great challenge but also a great reward if achieved, it takes pressure off the upcoming years, with less pages to read each subsequent year and not to mention the big ego boost from reading 100,000 pages on a year.

As tradition dictates, I’ll close out this edition of Numbers with my At The End Total, which this week sits at 840,838 pages, an increment from last week of 1,137 pages. Consistency and grit are getting closer each day to my goal, that now more than ever feels within grasp, and paraphrasing Vessel, ‘I’m finally here, and I’m not leaving this time“

A quick recap

• Total pages (Y-19): 14,668 pages
• Pages Left (Y-19) : 55,536 pages
• Total pages (General) : 663, 648 pages
• Date to achieve 700,000 pages : August 24, 2027
• Date to achieve 750,000: December 28, 2028
• Date to achieve 1,000,000: September 24, 2035
• Days Behind : 1572 days

For now, I’m off to read

Azriel

Welcome to another installment of Magic Mondays, being this the third week in a row , fills me with such joy and excitement. I wish to have more time to write, but as long as this section keeps going on like a hum drum, I can mark it as a win.

There’s a post pending from my section Azriel’s Infinite Book Shelf, I finished the fourth volume of the War of the Spider Queen, part of my trek thru The Forgotten Realms, but I’ll get deeper into that sometime tomorrow.

Now, get into this weeks update, and it’s a juicy one.

Concerning the eleventh week of my current year of reading, the total I’m delighted to inform that surpassed the minimal for the week and it finish with 1,540 pages, that’s 189 more pages than needed. Although the week started slowly, Saturday proved to be the perfect boost I needed, finishing with a staggering 712 total pages.

The total for the year ascended to 12,161 pages, putting the next milestone of 15,000 pages within 17 days, and projected, of course if this pace can be maintained, on September 3, that’s 3 days earlier that last week’s projection.

For the week ahead, number twelve of the year, the goal is simple, reach at least 1,416 total pages and get the current book, Annihilation , the fifth volume of The Spider Queen War, to at least 3/4 done, that’s around 200 pages for the week, in between, a lot of DC Comics series that have been on my radar for quite sometime, and now with the subscription is the perfect time to tackle them. I’ll be going thru some of the ones I have read in the next The Journey post.

Now for the bigger picture. As you might know, the next three milestones are quite the handful, but they give me a place to aim my efforts, and on the past weeks, I have seen a steady decrease in the dates to achieve, and seeing this same trend all around the board, that forward momentum, it just rekindles the desire to go and chase pages but more importantly, new adventures.

Anyway, for the most proximate milestone, 700,000 total pages, my current projection puts it at September 4, 2027. That’s 9 days earlier than last week’s projection, Still, my intention is to accomplish this goal within the confines of this year of reading.

As I said in past posts, my personal favorite milestone is the 750,000-page mark, of course is because what’s attached at the end of it, the roadtrip of a lifetime with my partner in crime. Not to give a lot away but this involves rugged desert views, natural wildlife refuge, at least 3 National Parks, and the ancient ruins of a mysterious civilization, and so much more.

But in order to get on the road I must keep on reading, right now, the projection puts this milestone at January 9, 2029, that’s 9 days earlier than last week’s projection

Now for the big boy, the coveted 1,000,000 pages, and subsequently, this milestone to has another trip at the almost end, in this particular one, the plan is to finish the journey at the Emerald City, and get there in style, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The projection for the whole enchilada is currently on October 15, 2035, that’s 7 days earlier than last week’s projections. Every single day count, even if I’m still 4 years 4 months and 10 days behind, this type of burst in my reading is what keeps moving the date closer to my 50th birthday.

Of course in order to achieve the main story quest, a little wink there to the beloved gamers in my life, I must rely on the side quest that gets me the cool gear. Starting of with my current number one side quest, the 49-hour timed reading.

Much to my surprise, this week, in between all of the grownup chaos, I manage to insert quite the few reading sessions to help me unwind, so much so that the clock moved an astonishing 9 hours 28 minutes and 36 seconds, leaving a little under 28 hours between me and some new acquisitions to my reading ranks.

On side quest number two, or how to read 100,000 pages in one year, there was also some progress and the toll came down to 87,839 pages, still a monumental task, but one that would be a dream to achieve.

Thankfully with all this forward momentum has bump up the At The End total, also known as the current projected total pages by my 50th birthday keeping the current pace of reading, quite the mouth full, anyway, it sits on 839,460 pages, that’s 1,032 pages more than last week’s projection.

Although this small feats would appear to be not that much, adding it up has brought me from a finishing date in 2042 to 2035 in only a couple of years of dedicated reading.

Now a quick recap:

• Total pages (Y-19): 12,161 pages
• Pages left (Y-19): 58,043 pages
• Total Pages (General) : 661,141 pages
• Date to achieve 750,000 pages: January 9,2029
• Date to achieve 1,000,000 pages: October 15, 2035
• Days behind: 1,593 days

For now, I’m off to read

Azriel