Books, caffeine and 1,000,000 pages to read
I have 1,580 pages left on my February quota, and a little voice in the back off my head said that it will be cool if by tomorrow morning that number magically turns from a 4-digit number to a 3-digit number.
That being said, today’s itinerary consist of a trek thru The Wyld, a dinner party with The Lightbringer, and hopefully a triumphant return to the Farseer Trilogy, with the second installment, Royal Assassin, written of course by the legendary Robin Hobb.
Off to read.
azr
Yesterday’s reading has gotten my rythm back.
It was a pretty decent day, 157 total pages of reading, finished the first volume of Queen Sonja, and read about 24 pages from Reaper’s Gale.
I still have 8,125 pages to go on this epic December, and a lot of little goals to achieve.
The first would be to finish Reaper’s Gale by December 21, this is in time for my week long readathon, and to start a new book, Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb.
I have heard a lot of amazing things about her writing, and it is low overdue to dive right into a new fantastic universe.
For now I am off to read.
azr.
To be completely honest, I have been struggling with my reading.
The start to this month’s gargantuan task has been disappointing to say the least.
With three weeks left in the year, and 8,282 pages to read I think this is a great opportunity to face this challenge head on.
Yesterday I had a glimmer of hope, for my total was 186 pages this combined with two graphic novels under my belt, things are looking up.
Concerning my numbers, I have a total of 4,760 total pages for this year, but the bad news is that I’m 30 days behind schedule , and with 179 days left on this year of reading, it is time to hit warp speed.
For today there’s some epicness ahead, I’ll try to make some headway with Reaper’s Gale, currently on page 371, and begin with a series of the She-Devil with a Sword, Queen Sonja, have been eyeing but haven’t got around to reading it.
For now, I am off to read, and take this cold and rainy December day as a good omen.
azr.
Although my original plan for this year was reading some books that were honored with prestigious awards, such as The Pulitzer or Nobel, I inherited lots of books from last year’s epic galore, 22 to be precise.
So, I’ll first go thru last year’s books, and then I’ll focus on the new list.
With that in mind, I will keep on reading all fantasy, this includes any graphic novel or comic book, to start off I will read three volumes of a series I have being eyeing for a while, Artesia.
And to my luck, they are available in my Kindle Unlimited account.
I have already started with the first volume, and it is awesome.
Now I am off to read.
azr.
Yesterday was another great of reading, and once again, I hit the page goal.
This time the total was 173 pages, the pace is going up.
This is a great way to start my vacation period with a bang, and hopefully, I will meet my goal by the time January rolls around.
Although I am a little behind schedule, currently I have 3,287 pages, and according to my calculations I should have approximately 7,738 pages at this point of the year, this is of course to reach my coveted 53,000 pages of total reading for this year.
That puts me 32 days behind schedule.
But have no fear for this vacation period will help me shorten the distance.
Now to talk about happier things, yesterday I finished the third volume of Mark Millar’s seminal comic book series, Kick-Ass, what a beautiful, hyperviolent thrill ride this series has been.
If your only frame of reference is the movie, let me tell you, that is the light version of the story, so, go out and buy whatever you can get your hands on of this great series and get ready for a ride not fit for the weak hearted.
Also, I had a great reading session this morning of the first book of The Malazan Book of the Fallen series, The Garden of Moon, in which I currently stand on page 330 of 627. I plan to read this and the second book of the series, Deadhouse Gates, before the end of the year.
And finally, I am lining up some reading material for the weekend, this of course with the goal of gaining some lost ground and getting ever closer to achieving what I set out to do this year, in my plans of reading for the upcoming weekend I have enlisted the help of a triple threat of fun.
The latest installments, well at least recently published in Spanish, of the Legend of Zelda manga series, The Minish Cap/Phantom Hourglass, and Four Swords, volumes 4 and 5, respectively.
And to sickly top things off, the first volume of compiled debauchery in its purest form, I am of course talking about the masterpiece written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by the great Steve Dillon.
This is one of the works of the middle of the ’90s that came and reshaped what the comic book medium could be and what time of stories could be told, not just your run of the mill superheroes stories but something with more depth and to explore human nature from a different perspective.
I should enjoy re-reading this fantastic series.
The few days ahead seem to be destined to be quite thrilling, I shall inform you, tomorrow of course, of my latest shenanigans.
But for today it is back to the salt mines for me.
Happy Readings!!!
azr.
Last year I set out to have some epic years of reading, that is to read all of those fantasy novels I was so eager to go through but haven’t got around to doing so.
So, I compiled a list of 100 novels that I was just burning to read.
As you would see in the list below, there are a few series that are true classics, and if you love fantasy you most definitely must read, but there is also some of the new breeds of fantasy writers that are taking this beloved genre by storm.
The red text represents books I have already read.
The blue text represents the book I am currently reading.
| Book | Total Pages |
| The Hobbit | 288 |
| Lord of the Rings | 1112 |
| Legend of Huma | 384 |
| Dragons of a Fallen Sun | 627 |
| Dragons of a Lost Star | 550 |
| Dragons of a Vanished | 610 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book IV: The Crystal Shard | 344 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book V: Streams of Silver | 377 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book VI: The Halfling’s Gem | 378 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book VII: The Legacy | 341 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book VIII: Starless Night | 369 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book IX: Siege of Darkness | 378 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book X: Passage to Dawn | 375 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XI: The Silent Blade | 408 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XII: The Spine of the World | 406 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XIII: Sea of Swords | 407 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XIV: Servant of the Shard | 348 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XV: Promise of the Witch King | 345 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XVI: Road of the Patriarch | 375 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XVII: The Thousand Orcs | 367 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XVIII: The Lone Drow | 370 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XIX: The Two Swords | 376 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XX: The Orc King | 398 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXI: The Pirate King | 396 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXII: The Ghost King | 375 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXIII: Gauntlgrym | 389 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXIV: Neverwinter | 363 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXV: Charon’s Claw | 442 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXVI: The Last Threshold | 434 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXVII: The Companions | 441 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXVIII: Night of the Hunter | 352 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXIX: Rise of the King | 352 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXX: Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf | 352 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXXI: Archmage | 352 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXXII: Maestro | 352 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Book XXXIII: Hero | 352 |
| Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen I) | 635 |
| Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen II) | 699 |
| Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen III) | 925 |
| House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen IV) | 1044 |
| Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen V) | 960 |
| The Bonehunters (Malazan Book of the Fallen VI) | 1232 |
| Reaper’s Gale (Malazan Book of the Fallen VII) | 1280 |
| Toll the Hounds (Malazan Book of the Fallen VIII) | 1280 |
| Dust of Dreams (Malazan Book of the Fallen IX) | 1276 |
| The Crippled God (Malazan Book of the Fallen X) | 1200 |
| The Chronicles of the Black Company | 704 |
| The Books of the South | 672 |
| The Return of the Black Company | 672 |
| The Many Deaths of the Black Company | 788 |
| The Vorrh | 500 |
| The Erstwhile | 462 |
| Beren and Lúthien | 289 |
| Night of Knives: A Novel of the Malazan Empire | 336 |
| Dancer`s Lament | 418 |
| Deadhouse Landing | 387 |
| Dragons of Autumn Twilight | 452 |
| Dragons of Winter Night | 404 |
| Dragons of Spring Dawning | 388 |
| Time of the Twins | 421 |
| War of the Twins | 412 |
| Test of the Twins | 348 |
| Dragons of the Dwarven Depths | 594 |
| Dragons of the Highlord Skies | 597 |
| Dragons of Hourglass Mage | 335 |
| The Second Generation | 440 |
| Dragons of Summer Flame | 612 |
| Amber and Ashes | 362 |
| Amber and Iron | 373 |
| Amber and Blood | 318 |
| Return of the Crimson Guard | 732 |
| The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Vol.1 | 319 |
| Stonewielder | 638 |
| Orb Sceptre Throne | 609 |
| The Way of Kings | 1005 |
| Words of Radiance | 1088 |
| Oathbringer | 1241 |
| The Name of the Wind | 662 |
| The Wise’s Man Fear | 1000 |
| The Slow Regard of Silent Things | 159 |
| The Legend of Drizzt Anthology | 370 |
| Neverwhere (Illustrated by Chris Riddell) | 435 |
| Coraline (Illustrated by Chris Riddell) | 192 |
| The Graveyard Book (Illustrated by Chris Riddell) | 289 |
| Fortunately, The Milk… (Illustrated by Chris Riddell) | 144 |
| The Godborn: The Sundering Book II | 352 |
| The Adversary: The Sundering Book III | 528 |
| The Reaver: The Sundering Book IV | 352 |
| The Sentinel: The Sundering Book V | 352 |
| The Herald: The Sundering Book VI | 352 |
| The First King of Shannara | 538 |
| The Sword of Shannara | 670 |
| The Elfstones of Shannara | 619 |
| The Wishsong of Shannara | 572 |
| Prince of Thorns | 373 |
| King of Thorns | 609 |
| Emperor of Thorns | 449 |
| Forge of Darkness | 687 |
| Fall of Light | 861 |
| Blood and Bone | 850 |
So far I have read 26 of 100 books, and my total of pages is 11,048 of the 53,459 pages all of these books sum up.
For the Christmas break I have big plans, first is to read a couple of books from The Malazan Book of the Fallen and to finish Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire series.
In other news, yesterday I reached another milestone of this year of reading, a total of 3,000 pages.
As I planned for yesterday, I read a couple of issues from the newly published Sandman Universe spin-off series, on this journey I was in good company, firstly by great magician Tim Hunter and secondly by the prince of Darkness himself, the morning star, Lucifer.
These are two great books, and you should check them out, but for my taste, I was more intrigued by the Lucifer series.
I am still a little behind schedule with my reading but giving the circumstances I have achieved more than expected.
For today, I plan to work on The Gardens of the Moon for a little bit, and also to read a graphic novel I purchased a while back, Un samurái ve el amanecer en Acapulco, by Mexican writer Álvaro Enrigue and Spanish illustrator Sonia Pulido.
Well now, back to reading.
azr.
365 days and 53,000 pages are ahead of me.
On the closing of this first day of the eleventh year of reading , I can only feel grateful for still be doing this.
I have a lot of energy and ready to tackle whatever this year has to offer.
The good news is that I finished the first graphic novel of the year, Kick-Ass Volume 1, and with it the first 216 pages of the year.
Also, I am preparing to dive deep into one of the most complex and critically acclaimed fantasy world, The Malazan Book of the Fallen.
I’ll start with the first book, The Gardens of Moon by Steve Erikson .
Happy Readings!!!
azr.
Yesterday I turned 37 and with that the clock on my crazy little project keeps on ticking .
Now I have little under 13 years to complete my task and a whole lot of pages left to read.
Right now I’m still enjoying the week-long celebration, but I wanted to share some of my new goodies that are now gracing my bookshelves.
My plan is to continue throughout next year with my “total epicness” reading, including, for next year, a deep dive into the world of one of my all time favorite characters, Hellboy.
After these two epic years the next task will be to read some authors with the distinction of receiving a Nobel or a Pulitzer prize, hence the Dylan, McCarthy and Alexievich additions to my collection.
For now I’ll just enjoy the rest of my week of celebraction, for which I am really thankful of being surrounded by so much love, and try to squeeze in some reading.
Back to it then.
azr.
I have come to the conclusion that my quest through epicness is going to extended on to next year.
I have a list of 100 books that is not going down without a fight.
Right now I am working on the second book of The Sellswords Trilogy, The Promise of the Witch-King, number fifteen of the Legend of Drizzt saga.
There are thirty three books of this amazing saga, so, I am getting near the half-point mark.
At the end of my trek true Faerûn awaits another epic quest, The Malazan book of the Fallen, ten main novels and a few more world-expansion stories.
I see my time for this tenth year rapidly depleting.
The new plan is to expand this reading list to two consecutive years of pure epicness
On my next entry there will be a detail list of what is in my read pile and my to-read list.
For this year I have reach 13,032 pages, still a long way to go.
Just keep on reading.
azr.
Lost In A Million Pages 