The Lord of the Rings - finished

Well it took some time, but I finally finished up The Lord of the Rings very late Tuesday. It is a very good read but for just pure enjoyment of the story as well as the characters. The interesting cast of characters and how they develop throughout the story add so much to the story. It is not just a fun read but one of those books that everyone should enjoy. It will join my list of top 100 books read if I ever decide to make that list.

While I did keep referring to the maps in the back of the book, it was still hard to keep in mind the overall layout of where everything was happening. This was also an instance where seeing the movie before hand helped me picture the cities, the towers, the Shire, etc. I do want to re-watch the 3 movies now though, I think I will understand a lot more of the details in the movie now than I did before.

One thing I have realized from reading this is that I seem to enjoy long epic type books more so than shorter reads. I am sure part of it is the sense of accomplishment one gets from finishing a book like LOTR or War & Peace or a Michener book. Of course those books also take a lot of time and energy so only reading epics just isn't realistic for me either.

Since LOTR is done, I am only reading The True Story of Fatima by Father DeMarchi. Father DeMarchi researched and wrote the book from 1943 to 1950 while living in Fatima. Interestingly he was able to Lucia as well as many other people that were around at the time of Our Lady visiting Fatima. LOTR kind of shoved all of my other reading far into the background so I am only on page 61 right now. I have not picked out a 2nd book yet, I have a few that I am considering but probably won't make a decision or get started on one until this weekend.