Why Lord of the Rings?

I've been asked more times than I care to remember why I feel passionate about The Lord of the Rings. I always have to stop them at this point and correct them. The truth is, it's not just The Lord of the Rings that I'm passionate about. I am absolutely in love with Tolkien's entire legendarium.

I read The Hobbit when I was in ~6th grade when The Lord of the Rings films were first coming out in theaters. As a 6th grader, I was enamored with the majesty, the adventure, the feelings of grandeur that narrated the simplest of Tolkien's work. I was hooked. At the middle school book fair, I bought The Lord of the Rings box set and set my mind to reading it.

Now, ~13 years later, I've read the trilogy 6 times and The Hobbit  5 times. Throw in a few passes at The Silmarillion and an honest-to-Eru college course in Tolkien Literature, and I think I qualify as a true Tolkien fan.

I wanted to start this blog with the only series that I felt worthy of the position. I've read a lot of fantasy and great novels since Tolkien but Middle-Earth is where my heart returns to. My mind scours the Shire, I persevere through the Pass of Caradhas, and my heart soars with the triumph of the restored King and the Reunited Kingdom.

The Lord of the Rings is a foundational piece of modern literature and has profoundly shaped global culture. The timeless story of overcoming great adversity holds parallels for all readers, regardless of age, and I can not think of a better text to start with than The Lord of the Rings. Happy reading, folks.

Introduction

Welcome to Adam Reads Books! As my third or maybe fourth stab at blogging consistently, I hope I found something that will keep me engaged, even if the audience is smaller.

I'm a 23 year old Project Manager working for Epic in Verona, WI and I travel. A lot. Every other week or so for work, I'm flying around the country for work and that means layovers and many cans of 30,000 ft ginger ale. As a corollary, I've also been an avid reader since I was very young and these trips afford me the opportunity to really dive into new material or old favorites.

I'm centering this blog around my internal commentary on what I'm currently reading. I'll be starting soon as I begin my ump-teenth reread of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic Lord of the Rings. It's one I've talked with many friends about for more hours than I care to remember but I think that writing about it here will bring forward ideas I hadn't thought of, and will allow others to engage and challenge my thoughts as well.

Thanks for checking in and I hope to have the first real post up soon. Safe travels.