4.

4 – Read the Lord of the Rings books.

I’ve been meaning to read these books for ages. I always felt that they were books I should read, but never seemed to get around to it. I tried once before, and I finished the first book, but only got about half way through the second. I can’t remember why I stopped (it’s very unusual for me to not read the whole of a book), but I guess I just wasn’t getting into it. Since then, I’ve read The Hobbit and was surprised to really enjoy that, and I’ve been intending to go back and try Lord of the Rings again for quite some time. Anyway, Tom bought me a copy for Christmas, so in the end I had no excuses. Here it is:

I think it’s a lovely looking book, but as it’s all three books in one, it’s rather enormous. The actual stories take up over a thousand pages, plus there is an extensive introduction and about 5 appendices at the end. Look how thick it is(!):

The size of the book did make it rather difficult to read. I have a bad habit of bending the spines of books at the best of times, but I fear this one got a little ruined:

I don’t think it will ever be the same again. However, I did manage to read the whole thing in 2 weeks, which I am rather impressed with. I did enjoy it, but I can see how I could’ve got a bit fed up with it last time, when I tried to read them back to back. I think reading them at speed helped me get through them. It was a good story, well-written, etc. and I can see why it’s such a classic, although I did struggle a bit with all the battle-scenes; I found that a bit boring. But overall it was very good and I’m glad I gave it a second chance. Very enjoyable.