Tag Archives: JRR Tolkien

Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

Synopsis: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Review: This is my third time reading JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed it more. I’ve been following along with The Tolkien Professor’s podcasted course, and the background I got from finally reading and actually comprehending The Silmarillion really enhanced the depth of pleasure I received once diving back into Frodo’s familiar world.…

Read More »

The Children of Húrin by JRR Tolkien

Synopsis: The tragic tale of Túrin Túrambar, master of doom by doom mastered, who sought to fight evil but was undone by his own impetuousness and self-aggrandizement. Review: The Children of Húrin is a retelling in novel form of the chapter in Tolkien’s Silmarillion called Túrin Túrambar. I should’ve waited to read this for a year or two, because about halfway through I burned out on all the epic language and tragic plotting. My experience aside, it’s a fantastic story, one of the best ever…

Read More »

The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien

Synopsis: An account of the history of the origins of Middle Earth during the First Age. Review: I have tried and failed to read The Silmarillion on several occasions, and I can only credit my success this go-round to the podcast lecture series given by The Tolkien Professor. The early chapters are so dense with information that his interpretation and analysis helped lay the groundwork for me to be able to enjoy later chapters such as “Beren and Luthien” and “Turin Turambar,” to name two…

Read More »

The Alphabet Meme

Picked this meme up from Melanie, in honor of two YA books I read for work this weekend. The goal of this is to list favourite authors according to last name (with a representative fave book as well). Atwood, Margaret — Cat’s Eye Bronte, Charlotte — Jane Eyre Card, Orson Scott — Ender’s Game Dragonwagon, Crescent — The Year It Rained (with Paul Zindel) Eager, Edward — Half Magic Forster, EM — Howard’s End Gibson, William — Neuromancer Hobb, Robin — Ship of Magic Ishiguro,…

Read More »

May I Introduce… (Booking Through Thursday)

How did you come across your favorite author(s)? Recommended by a friend? Stumbled across at a bookstore? A book given to you as a gift? Was it love at first sight? Or did the love affair evolve over a long acquaintance? You can find my favorite authors listed in the first sidebar column. Here’s a rundown of how I met them all: CS Lewis–My father read the Chronicles of Narnia to me when was a little girl. For my 6th birthday, I had a cake…

Read More »

Essential Books For Children

I want to start a conversation about what readers think are the books that no child should be without. I’m building a library for Superfast Baby, and here are my 10 must haves for boys and 10 must haves for girls: Boys: 1. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling 2. A House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs 3. Don’t Care High by Gordon Korman

Read More »

Fantasy Series, Reading Ladies & More–Selections from Problogger’s Top 5

In honor of today’s work read, a police procedural that left me hungering for Ruth Rendell, I give you my list of the posts I’ve enjoyed so far from the Problogger Group Writing Project: Top 5 Most Entertaining Foreign Films of the Last Decade An fun list of films, though I would quibble and say that City of God isn’t exactly “entertaining” in the traditional sense. I’d replace it with Strictly Ballroom, unless he’s being strict about foreign language films, not just foreign films–which seems…

Read More »

10 Books I Can’t Live Without

I found this meme over at Bookfoolery and Babble, and heaven knows I love lists. These are the 10 books that form the backbone of my library, the 10 books with which I would never part, the 10 books that I will always reread at every stage of my life. That’s not to say that I could live without any books but these, but that I need these books to be me.

Read More »