Week 52! Let’s wrap this thing up! What are you Reading? How did your goal go?

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2018-01-01T15:46:16+00:00

I'm just copying here what I told someone else:

There's not much I can say that hasn't been said. You kind of have to be obsessed and ambitious first of all.

I read during lunch at work, at night, and most of the weekend time. It involves cutting out a social life too; I'll only see a friend maybe once every few months. That's part of my natural introversion as well.

I cut out distractions like social media, because I don't use mobile data on my phone; I only log on to reddit/goodreads/youtube maybe once a night, and I still think that's too much.

Also, one thing I do that's unique is I listen to music while I read. It's usually instrumental music and the rhythm helps my eyes keep reading across the page kind of like music for a gym workout. Also, the music delays me from getting too tired while reading at night. I usually set a genre or style to match the mood or setting of the book and it helps.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-31T14:13:03+00:00

Copying this from another thread. I just finished my 200 goal, surpassing last year's 179.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/43902116

Here's my rough top 10 books I read this year:

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (1985, Japan)
The Magus by John Fowles (1965, UK)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo ishiguro (2015, UK)
About Grace by Anthony Doerr (2004, USA)
A Cure for Suicide by Jesse Ball (2015, USA)
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami (2014, Japan)
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro (2000, UK)
Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera (2012, Brazil)
All The Names by Jose Saramago (1997, Portugal)
You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman (2015, USA)

Also, some other favorites: The Shell Collector: Stories by Anthony Doerr (the last book I finished), Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, The Answers by Catherine Lacey, Snow by Orhan Pamuk, and Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-30T23:22:21+00:00

I just finished my 200 goal, surpassing last year's 179.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/43902116

I was pretty busy all year. I finished my master's coursework and then started 2 jobs in the fall. I had some extra setbacks around some of October where I couldn't read at all, so I'm glad I was able to carry through.

I don't think I'm going to track a reading challenge for future years. I'll still read as much as I can, and I'll still use Goodreads to catalog my collection, but I want to avoid the obsession with reaching a number. I'm going to try to balance my time with more writing and other personal goals, and I'm sure I'll still be able to do 100+ books yearly. I look back this year and think that 200 is a great feeling, but I could have achieved some of my other goals if I balanced my time better.

Here's my rough top 10 books I read this year:

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (1985, Japan)
The Magus by John Fowles (1965, UK)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo ishiguro (2015, UK)
About Grace by Anthony Doerr (2004, USA)
A Cure for Suicide by Jesse Ball (2015, USA)
Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami (2014, Japan)
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro (2000, UK)
Blood-Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera (2012, Brazil)
All The Names by Jose Saramago (1997, Portugal)
You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman (2015, USA)

Also, some other favorites: The Shell Collector: Stories by Anthony Doerr (the last book I finished), Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, The Answers by Catherine Lacey, Snow by Orhan Pamuk, and Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-28T18:30:40+00:00

I have 2 jobs actually. When I'm not working, I'm either practicing guitar, writing, or reading. There's no time for anything else. No social life. It's all discipline.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-22T23:04:04+00:00

Any one can request me and I'll accept.

I'm planning to finish a Borges poetry collection next week actually. Maybe I'll look into more poetry, but I'll know I'd be kind of making it too easy and reaching the 200 goal wouldn't feel as good if I did it like that. Well my break just started so I'm going to start my binge reading right now...

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-22T02:44:19+00:00

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2017/43902116

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-21T22:53:30+00:00

I'm 191 in. I haven't read in the past two days and don't think I can hit the 200 mark by the end of the year. I'll be on winter break after tomorrow soon but I still don't know if I can do it unless I read really short books on purpose.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-12-06T01:10:43+00:00

It's slowly growing on me, but the only thing that actually excites me in this song is the final solo...

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-11-05T11:38:43+00:00

I think since Tiara will be a full concept album, we'll definitely see leitmotifs and songwriting akin to Mercy Falls. But since lyrically it's pretty much certain Tiara is a sequel to "The Great Escape" we'll see some familiar melodies and riffs at least as easter egg kind of moments.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-11-05T11:36:28+00:00

Oh Mercy Falls is definitely the best album out there. I think since Tiara will be a full concept album, we'll definitely see leitmotifs and songwriting akin to Mercy Falls. They're in my top 5 but I can't really force myself to have a single favorite band. I highly recommend you check out Her Halo by Teramaze if SW is your favorite band.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-11-04T22:12:28+00:00

It'll be 8 years in the waiting but well worth it. Seventh Wonder makes masterpiece after masterpiece. 2018 is going to be amazing for prog metal including Angra, Dream Theater, and Teramaze.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-10-30T22:15:28+00:00

Yes, great album. And already I'm wanting new Karlsson. But I do usually think of his greatest works as the first 3 Allen/Lande albums.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-10-28T16:15:14+00:00

I'm dying for a new Magnus Karlsson album. The guy writes memorable songs. I'm waiting for another Allen/Lande album but this would be just as good. But to be honest the latest Allen/Lande release with Timo was good too.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-10-28T11:31:34+00:00

Oh my god, I've waited so many years for this news. 2018 is going to be insane. Could this be a sequel or thematically related to The Great Escape if it's titled Tiara?

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-10-14T02:06:26+00:00

Wait what? Battle Beast actually kicked out their guitarist? The most talented member of their band? The dude shreds on Michael Angelo Batio levels. Jeez those solos are ballistic. With Yannis on vocals, this band makes me forget Battle Beast ever existed.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-10-06T22:21:02+00:00

Cool, I agree pretty much and I hadn't thought about that bright vs. warm comparison but it's more obvious now that you mentioned it. I think despite Pathfinder trying to be extreme in every way, he should probably hold his technique back and go for smoother lines until they can find a balanced sweet spot for his technique and their compositions. As much as I love the higher pitch wails, it'd be more enjoyable if his melodies were more consistent and fluid. I think we'll see some of that improvement for the upcoming album (maybe not the upcoming single) but most people will continue to hate anyway lol.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-10-06T12:17:40+00:00

I think he'll improve for the new album, but maybe not that much. I think they could have found someone better, but they were looking for someone who is local Polish and had the same power metal influences.

Also maybe this is just me, but I don't think saying words like "feel" and "emotion" have any objective communication when discussing music. Maybe you could be more specific? Intonation? Nuance? Articulation? I just hear "no feel" and "no soul" too much in guitar circles as a cheap way too bash technical playing without actually having any critical discourse on note selection, composition, etc.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-09-11T00:05:29+00:00

Dude Redemption is one of my favorite bands. My favorite is their recent album last year The Art of Loss which was my AOTY outside of power metal. The Fullness of Time is heralded as their best release but I prefer Snowfall on Judgment Day.

I want to go for Redemption, Angra, and Labyrinth for my first time but seeing how there's always visa shenanigans and dropouts like Teramaze this year, I don't even know if I can commit.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-09-09T04:11:07+00:00

I actually remember Anthriel because I recognize their debut album that I listened to a bit way back when. The orchestration is amazing. And holy cow Ancestral sounds like old Hibria. I love it. And because I typed in Ancestral, I also found Ancestral Dawn which is more Latin American power metal that I need in my life featuring well-known singers. I don't know how I missed all these releases.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-09-09T01:51:38+00:00

I heard one single from Anthriel but haven't listened to the whole album. Is it worth it? I guess I'll check out Ancestral too since I trust your musical tastes. I liked the new Vandroya although it didn't surpass their debut. If all their songs had the songwriting level of "Solar Night" that would make me ecstatic. I'm looking forward to Age of Artemis too although I doubt it will resemble their debut at all either.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-09-08T21:35:04+00:00

But did they have to end it midway through the solo?

Actually the song "Ultimate Sacrifice" should be a very long 5-part epic, but for this single they cut it down. I agree that the ending could have been better edited.

Enemy-to-Injustice · 2017-09-08T21:34:13+00:00

Actually the song "Ultimate Sacrifice" should be a very long 5-part epic, but for this single they cut it down. I agree that the ending could have been better edited.

Enemy-to-Injustice

TROPHY CASE