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I am thinking of hosting my very first blog party. In September. A Tolkien-themed blog party, starting on Sept. 22 (Bilbo and Frodo's birthday) and running that whole week (commonly celebrated as Tolkien Week among enthusiasts). A blog party with games and giveaways, the whole nine yards.
A blog party that would kick off a three-month-long read-along of the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy. Also complete with the occasional giveaway, guest posts, and chapter-by-chapter discussions.
You see what I meant about a lot of work? And a lot of fun?
I got the idea because I've run across comments on lots of blogs lately from people who haven't read the trilogy yet, but would like to. People who might be a little daunted by the thought of reading 1000+ pages without some kind of external motivation/enthusiasm to keep them going. Or people like me who haven't re-read it for a while, and have been needing an excuse.
So, my bloggy friends, what do you think? Would anyone be interested in joining me for a Middle Earth blog party and/or a LOTR read-along? Starting in September? Please let me know!
EDIT: Saying you'd be interested would not obligate you to participate -- I know stuff happens in real life that derails plans. Also, you could join the blog party, but not do the read-along, or skip the party and just do the read-along.
Sure, Hamlette - go for it. If it's something you love ('Lord of the Rings') and you are willing to write some great posts for readers, have fun with it. :) There are a lot of Tolkien fans out there.
ReplyDeleteHappy planning!
Thanks! Just feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of doing 60+ chapter posts, plus coordinating everything else, so wanting to know if people would actually join in, or if it would just be me :-) Would you consider participating in either one?
DeleteI'd be willing to participate! I'm not sure I'd be able to do everything, but certainly as much as I can. Would probably need to wait until closer to the time to know for sure. But it sounds like a lot of fun! I'm definitely a fan of the movies. Haven't read the books. A good opportunity to do that! :)
ReplyDeleteSweet! I was really hoping you'd be interested :-) I've been inspired by the Literary Heroines blog party, though this might be a bit smaller-scale than Kellie's shindig, since it's my first one and all.
DeleteI haven't seen the movies or read the books, as I don't consider it my genre at all. Thus, I wouldn't be participating in the event, but I would definitely enjoy reading the entries. Who knows, I may be so captivated that I end up interested in the genre.
ReplyDeleteI know from hosting the John Garfield 100th birthday blogathon back in March, that hosting an event is a lot of work...but it is also fun and very rewarding.
Thanks for the encouragement! I'm something of a control enthusiast, so I don't know if I could ever host a blogothon where I would have to rely on so many other people to actually make it happen. I would rather do the work myself and not worry about it not getting done, hee. So kudos to you for hosting a blogothon!
DeleteAnd who knows, you might get interested! Enough to see the movies, at any rate -- only 8-13 hours of watching time (depending on if you go with the theatrical or director's cuts), not 1000+ pages of reading time.
What a fun idea! I don't know how much I would be able to participate (I'll be starting my first full-time semester of college), but I would do as much as I could! :D Sooo exciting! :)
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking that it's probably going to take me longer than 3 months to read the books, now that I really sit and do the math. But at any rate, I hope you can attend the party even if you can't do the read-along!
DeleteI love this idea! I've never actually participated in a blog party before, so I might need more details of what all that entails, but I am definitely interested. I read The Hobbit, but I still haven't read the LOTR trilogy, which I'd like to do at some point. I'll be getting a promotion to supervisor at work in September, so I don't know how much I'll be able to do, but I'll definitely try!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to do another post later today (I hope -- maybe tomorrow) about just what I'm planning, because I've had enough interest that I want to go ahead. So I'll explain the idea of a "blog party" in detail there, but basically, I provide a list of questions that you copy to your blog and answer, and then you come back to my blog and put a link to yours in the linky thing on my post, and then you can read other people's answers through their links, they can read yours, you can find new blogs written by people with similar interests, etc. Way fun! Also, I'm going to do a couple giveaways for nifty LOTR-related things.
DeleteAnd I think I will probably be stepping the reading pace WAY down from my original estimate -- maybe like 2 chapters a week. So maybe you'll be able to do the read-along too -- up to you :-)
It sounds like fun, but sadly I'm not going to be able to participate!
ReplyDeleteAww, bummer. Well, the read-along posts will all be there for whenever you do read it :-)
DeleteOkay! Yeah this fall is going to be busy because we're expecting baby #2 (and last!), so I don't think I'll have time to do a ton of reading!
DeleteCongratulations! How very exciting :-) Just look forward to all that good reading time you'll have once the baby is here and you can use nursing as a good reason to sit down with a book many times a day.
DeleteThank you! Haha, I actually don't find I do much reading with a new baby around, plus I don't nurse!! But... I will find some time to read a little bit I'm sure :) And sleep, hopefully sleep...
DeleteSleep is good!
DeleteSounds very nice, Hamlette! A few months ago, I just finished my reread of the trilogy, so I won't be joining in for the readathon, but I will no doubt love to read the posts for the blog party!
ReplyDeleteI haven't re-read the trilogy for... 3 or 4 years? Too long. So this is partly to make me just take the time to read it myself. I envy you the recent read-thru! (And, you know, you could still comment on things, I'm not keeping score.) And yes, you can still enjoy the party!
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