Background (from Lesley Anne)
For some reason since then, though, I haven’t made much room in my life for this book (except to have a movie marathon every Christmas, but that doesn’t count). I’m sure it has a lot to do with the fact that life is more complicated now than it was when I was 13, and time to set aside and read a tome as intimidating as The Lord of the Rings is hard to come by. But I know most of you can identify with this as well—lately I’ve felt a need to read this book again. Like it’s an old friend and it’s been way too long since I’ve pulled up a chair, grabbed a cup of coffee, and visited for a while.
I posted about this on Twitter a few weeks ago, and after a short conversation with Jenny, Lauren, and Britney, the wheels began turing in my head on some things we could do on the blog. Later that day, Jenny texted and said she wanted to read the LOTR with me—and the idea for this read-along was born!
We know several people with this classic on their TBR, or have been meaning to re-read it, so now’s your chance! Jenny and I are really excited to host our first read-along with this book, and we can’t wait for more people to discover this epic tale for themselves. Keep reading if you're interested in joining us!
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a genuine masterpiece. The most widely read and influential fantasy epic of all time, it is also quite simply one of the most memorable and beloved tales ever told. Originally published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings set the framework upon which all epic/quest fantasy since has been built. Through the urgings of the enigmatic wizard Gandalf, young hobbit Frodo Baggins embarks on an urgent, incredibly treacherous journey to destroy the One Ring. This ring—created and then lost by the Dark Lord, Sauron, centuries earlier—is a weapon of evil, one that Sauron desperately wants returned to him. With the power of the ring once again his own, the Dark Lord will unleash his wrath upon all of Middle-earth. The only way to prevent this horrible fate from becoming reality is to return the Ring to Mordor, the only place it can be destroyed. Unfortunately for our heroes, Mordor is also Sauron's lair. The Lord of the Rings is essential reading not only for fans of fantasy but for lovers of classic literature as well.
If you’re interesting in joining, you don’t have to be a blogger to participate. Everyone is welcome! Having a Goodreads or Google account will make it easier to participate in the discussions every week, but that is definitely not required.
The Lord of the Rings is divided into three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Often these are separated as three distinct books part of a “trilogy,” when actually they are just one book. To make it a little less overwhelming, we have a reading schedule (shown below) that will have us finishing each volume in a month, averaging to about 100 pages a week. We hope that’s a reasonable pace for everyone! If you read faster than that, feel free to read ahead (we aren’t too worried about spoilers coming out since this book is more than 60 years old). After finishing the reading for each week, come to the blog to see our thoughts on that week’s reading, along with some fabulous discussion questions from Jenny!
We’ve created a reading schedule that has us reading The Fellowship of the Ring in October, The Two Towers in November, and The Return of the King in December. Here’s the schedule broken down by week:
Reading Schedule (October, November, and December 2015)
The Fellowship of The Ring
Week One (Sept 27- Oct 3): Prologue, Chapters 1-5
Week Two (Oct 4-10): Chapters 6-12
Week Three (Oct 11-17): Book Two Chapters 1-5
Week Four (Oct 18-24): Chapters 6-10
The Two Towers
Week Five (Oct 25-31): Chapters 1-6
Week Six (Nov 1-7): Chapters 7-11
Week Seven (Nov 8-14): Book Four Chapters 1-5
Week Eight (Nov 15-21): Chapters 6-10
The Return of the King
Week Nine (Nov 22-28): Chapters 1-5
Week Ten (Nov 29-Dec 5): Chapters 6-10
Week Eleven (Dec 6-12): Book Six Chapters 1-5
Week Twelve (Dec 13-19): Chapters 6-9
Every Sunday, Jenny will post thoughts on that week’s reading on the blog along with a few discussion questions. Feel free to join in the discussion in whatever way is easiest for you—in the comments, in a post on your own blog, on Goodreads, Facebook, etc. Just be sure to let us know where you respond so we can all come read your thoughts! If you use Twitter or Instagram, be sure to use the hashtag #LOTRreadalong.
To sign-up for the read-along, you don’t have to do anything fancy! Just let us know in the comments below. We want to keep this as simple as possible for you guys. Just read the book (along with some other awesome bookish people), and come to the blog every week to talk about it. That’s it! We can’t wait to get started next Monday, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #LOTRreadalong on Twitter or Instagram as we go along!
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a genuine masterpiece. The most widely read and influential fantasy epic of all time, it is also quite simply one of the most memorable and beloved tales ever told. Originally published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings set the framework upon which all epic/quest fantasy since has been built. Through the urgings of the enigmatic wizard Gandalf, young hobbit Frodo Baggins embarks on an urgent, incredibly treacherous journey to destroy the One Ring. This ring—created and then lost by the Dark Lord, Sauron, centuries earlier—is a weapon of evil, one that Sauron desperately wants returned to him. With the power of the ring once again his own, the Dark Lord will unleash his wrath upon all of Middle-earth. The only way to prevent this horrible fate from becoming reality is to return the Ring to Mordor, the only place it can be destroyed. Unfortunately for our heroes, Mordor is also Sauron's lair. The Lord of the Rings is essential reading not only for fans of fantasy but for lovers of classic literature as well.
Who
If you’re interesting in joining, you don’t have to be a blogger to participate. Everyone is welcome! Having a Goodreads or Google account will make it easier to participate in the discussions every week, but that is definitely not required.
What
The Lord of the Rings is divided into three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Often these are separated as three distinct books part of a “trilogy,” when actually they are just one book. To make it a little less overwhelming, we have a reading schedule (shown below) that will have us finishing each volume in a month, averaging to about 100 pages a week. We hope that’s a reasonable pace for everyone! If you read faster than that, feel free to read ahead (we aren’t too worried about spoilers coming out since this book is more than 60 years old). After finishing the reading for each week, come to the blog to see our thoughts on that week’s reading, along with some fabulous discussion questions from Jenny!
When
We’ve created a reading schedule that has us reading The Fellowship of the Ring in October, The Two Towers in November, and The Return of the King in December. Here’s the schedule broken down by week:
Reading Schedule (October, November, and December 2015)
The Fellowship of The Ring
Week One (Sept 27- Oct 3): Prologue, Chapters 1-5
Week Two (Oct 4-10): Chapters 6-12
Week Three (Oct 11-17): Book Two Chapters 1-5
Week Four (Oct 18-24): Chapters 6-10
The Two Towers
Week Five (Oct 25-31): Chapters 1-6
Week Six (Nov 1-7): Chapters 7-11
Week Seven (Nov 8-14): Book Four Chapters 1-5
Week Eight (Nov 15-21): Chapters 6-10
The Return of the King
Week Nine (Nov 22-28): Chapters 1-5
Week Ten (Nov 29-Dec 5): Chapters 6-10
Week Eleven (Dec 6-12): Book Six Chapters 1-5
Week Twelve (Dec 13-19): Chapters 6-9
Where
Every Sunday, Jenny will post thoughts on that week’s reading on the blog along with a few discussion questions. Feel free to join in the discussion in whatever way is easiest for you—in the comments, in a post on your own blog, on Goodreads, Facebook, etc. Just be sure to let us know where you respond so we can all come read your thoughts! If you use Twitter or Instagram, be sure to use the hashtag #LOTRreadalong.
How
To sign-up for the read-along, you don’t have to do anything fancy! Just let us know in the comments below. We want to keep this as simple as possible for you guys. Just read the book (along with some other awesome bookish people), and come to the blog every week to talk about it. That’s it! We can’t wait to get started next Monday, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #LOTRreadalong on Twitter or Instagram as we go along!
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