"Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien" ed. by Christopher Tolkien

My husband got me this book for my birthday, and it is a visual treat!  Oodles and oodles of drawings and paintings by Tolkien, mainly related to Middle-earth, but not entirely.  And each one has a note from his son Christopher explaining what the picture is, when it was done, where it was published before, and so on.  

Many of the pictures have the original black-and-white artwork by Tolkien and then a version that had color added for a calendar or some book edition.  I found those especially fascinating, maybe because I'm very drawn to black-and-white artwork.  And I'm fascinated by the process of someone else trying to stay true to the original artist's idea while adding color to the artwork.

This book doesn't take long to enjoy, but it's one I'll pull out and savor again and again.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: G.  Nothing objectionable here.

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Reads of 2024

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Best Books I Read in 2024."  It's been a while since I joined up with this weekly event, but I'm hoping to get back to participating a lot more in 2025.

I read a lot fewer books this year than I did in the past couple of years, for a variety of reasons.  I have two kids in high school now.  My middle-schooler participated in two different ballet productions.  I published four books.  My dad died, and my mom now lives with us part of the time.  But I still managed to read 68 books!  

So, here are my two annual lists: my top ten new reads and my top ten re-reads, with a bit of info about each one, and what I personally rated them, movie-style.  I've linked all the titles to my reviews (for re-reads, those reviews may have been written after a previous reading, not this year).

New Reads

1. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

2. Break the Beast by Allison Tebo -- young adult, Beowulf retelling, historical-esque fantasy, adventure, platonic friendship, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

3. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling -- middle-grade fiction, diverse reads, disability rep -- limb difference, humorous (PG)

4. The Sackett Brand by Louis L'Amour -- western, historical fiction, heroism, strong family ties, heroic characters (PG-16)

5. The Story Girl by L. M. Montgomery -- cozy vibes, family fiction, slice-of-life, childhood friendship (G)

6. Kill the Dawn by Emily Hayse -- young adult, Hamlet retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Old Norse vibes, heroic characters (PG-13)

7. Snowhawk by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

8. Summon the Light by Tor Thibeaux -- young adult, Shakespeare's The Tempest retelling, fantasy, heroic characters, found family (PG)

9. The Midnight Show by Sarah Pennington -- young adult, "Twelve Dancing Princesses" retelling, historical-esque fantasy, Jazz Age/1920s vibes, mystery, detectives, entertainers (PG-10)

10. The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim -- epistolary, humorous, classic (PG-10)

Re-reads

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -- classic, high fantasy, save-the-world quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-13)

2. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- young adult, hoodlums, coming-of-age, heroic characters, found family (PG)

3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin -- middle-grade fiction, mystery, humorous (PG)

4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen -- classic, parody of Gothic fiction, humorous, clean romance (PG)

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen -- classic, humorous, clean romance, coming-of-age (PG)

6. Balefire by Deborah Koren -- high fantasy, platonic friendship, save-the-kingdom quest, heroic characters, found family (PG-16)

7. Up from Dust by Heather Kaufman -- Christian fiction, Biblical fiction, historical fiction, clean romance (PG-10)

8. King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry -- middle-grade fiction, historical fiction, horses, diverse reads, speech impediment rep, based on a true story, found family (PG)

9. A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White -- Christian fiction, historical fiction, eve of WWI, spies, intrigue, mystery, book lovers, diverse reads, speech impediment rep (PG)

10. Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell -- young adult, historical fiction, diverse reads, American Indian culture, based on a true story, adventure (PG-10)

If you're wondering why Up from Dust is on both lists, it's because I read it for the first time this year, and then read it again a few months later.  It's just that good!

(From my Instagram)

Answers to Who Said It? Quotation Quiz

Here are the answers to Monday's game!  Everyone's scores are at the bottom of this post.  Thanks for playing!

1.  "It was a compliment, and so, of course, not true." (Merry Brandybuck, The Fellowship of the Ring)

2.  "Yet dawn is ever the hope of men." (Aragorn, The Two Towers)

3.  "I have never allowed anyone to stand me on my head." (Pippin Took, The Return of the King)

4.  "Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones." (Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring)

5.  "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." (Gimli, The Fellowship of the Ring)

6.  "If you think that I have passed through the mountains and the real of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken." (Aragorn, The Return of the King)

7.  "Ah! the green smell!  It is better than much sleep.  Let us run!" (Legolas, The Two Towers)

8.  "Many that live deserve death.  And some that die deserve life." (Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring)

9.  "I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!" (Samwise Gamgee, The Return of the King)

10.  "May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!" (Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring).

11.  "As for me, my way home lies onward and not back." (Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring)

12.  "Go where you must go, and hope!" (Gandalf, The Two Towers)

Scores

Victoria -- 12

Ruth -- 11

Bea -- 10

Rosa -- 9

Astrya -- 7

Lissa -- 4

Miranda -- 4

Who Said It? Quotation Quiz

Welcome to our first game for the 2024 Tolkien Blog Party!

Below are twelve quotations from The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.  They were all spoken by members of the Fellowship of the Ring.  Your challenge is to figure out who said each one.  (These are all from the books, though some are used in the movies too.)

Put your guesses in a comment on this post.  (I've put all comments on full moderation so I can hide your answers until the end of the party, so no one will be tempted to cheat.)  I'll post the answers and your scores on Saturday!

1.  "It was a compliment, and so, of course, not true."

2.  "Yet dawn is ever the hope of men."

3.  "I have never allowed anyone to stand me on my head."

4.  "Short cuts make delays, but inns make longer ones."

5.  "Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens." 

6.  "If you think that I have passed through the mountains and the real of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken."

7.  "Ah! the green smell!  It is better than much sleep.  Let us run!"

8.  "Many that live deserve death.  And some that die deserve life." 

9.  "I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!"

10.  "May your beer be laid under an enchantment of surpassing excellence for seven years!" 

11.  "As for me, my way home lies onward and not back."

12.  "Go where you must go, and hope!"

Announcing the 2024 Tolkien Blog Party

This announcement is a few days later than I intended it to be, but that's okay, right?  We still have more than three weeks to get ready for this year's Tolkien Blog Party! 

This will be the twelve annual Tolkien Blog Party!  Wow!  A rather momentous number, don't you think?  We'll pretend it is, anyway.

If you haven't joined one of my blog parties before, or haven't joined one lately, here's how this event will work:

• I will provide a giveaway with Tolkien-related prizes, some blog games, a blog tag for all and sundry to fill out, and a link-up where everyone can share their party posts.
  
  
• You get to provide posts of your own on any Tolkien-related subject (book reviews, movie reviews, character sketches, lists of favorite moments, musings on how cool Gandalf's sword Glamdring is, an appreciation post for the dwarves, whatever.)  All posts must be appreciative and not derogatory, and all posts must be family-friendly.

It doesn't matter if you've only read Tolkien's books or only seen movies or shows based on them -- all Tolkien fans are welcome to enjoy the festivities!

You are hereby invited to attend!  Start making your plans for your posts, and help yourself to this year's blog buttons.  Share them on your blog with a link to this post so others can join the fun, use them in your party posts, and so on.

There's no formal sign-up sheet for who wants to post about what, but if you want to discuss some options in the comments, I'm always here for that!

Top Ten Tuesday: Additionally

This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl is "The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf."  I received five books for Christmas, won one in a giveaway, and bought the others myself over the past couple of months.  Behold!

The Bookish Bandit by Erica Dansereau and Britt Howard (Christian contemporary romance involving book publishing)

A Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin (festive picture book I loved as a kid)

A Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin (festive picture book I also loved as a kid)

The Hart of Christmas by Latisha Sexton (Christian contemporary Christmas romance)

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, specifically the 50th Anniversary edition from Unwin Paperbacks (classic fantasy adventure)

Kling Klang Gloria by Jenni Sauer (sci-fi fairy tale retelling)

The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham (historical fiction mystery romance)

Persuasion by Jane Austen, specifically the Winchester Austen edition from Worth Press Ltd. (classic novel of second chances and self-discovery)

Through Thorny Ways by Jennifer Q. Hunt (Christian historical fiction set just after WWI)

The Weight of Air by Kimberly Duffy (Christian historical fiction involving a circus)

That's my list for this week.  Did you get books for Christmas?  Or give some?  I did give a handful as gifts, as well as receiving some.

Announcing A Tolkien Blog Party for 2023

Won't you join me next month for my eleventh annual Tolkien Blog Party?  It will be the usual festive mix of party games, a blog tag, a giveaway, and lots of contributions from you, all celebrating Tolkien and his creations.

While the focus is usually on Middle-earth, reviews of or posts about Tolkien's other works, or about the professor himself, are always welcome!

This year's party will run during Tolkien Week, which ends on Hobbit Day, otherwise known as Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, September 22.

If you've never attended a Tolkien Blog Party here at the Edge of the Precipice, or if it's been a few years since you joined us, you can take a peek at last year's wrap-up to see what kinds of posts people contributed last year.

If you have some ideas of what you'd like to share during the party, but you're not sure if they'd be appropriate, just ask in the comments!  It's also fine to simply copy this year's tag to your own blog and fill it out there, or simply play the games here.  Whatever you have time for!  This is always a pretty laid-back celebration, in the fine tradition of hobbit parties. 

And, if you want to drop a comment here telling me you're hoping to participate, whether or not you have ideas of what you want to do, I'm always happy to hear from you!

"Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship" by Colin Duriez

Although it took me several months to finish reading this book, that is not because it was boring.  Rather, other books kept shoving their way in front of it.  Library books coming due, ARCs needing to be read before release day, and so on.  Now that my kids are done with school, I have had a lot more time for reading, and I finally finished this!

Duriez begins the book with biographical accounts of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis from childhood until they met.  He then shows how their personalities, tastes, interests, and ideas blended into friendship.  He spends time discussing the other Inklings too, and how their collective group friendship was important to both Tolkien and Lewis.  Their writing, their faith, and their careers all get explored here, sometimes in depth.  If you are a fan of either author, or you like learning about authors in general, you would probably get a lot out of this book.  I know I did!

Particularly Good Bits:

From his wide experience of reading [Lewis] instinctively rejected a distinction between highbrow and lowbrow literature, serious and popular, and even between so-called good and bad books.  A far more important distinction for him was that between good and bad readers.  Literature, he increasingly felt, exists for the enjoyment of readers, and books therefore should be judged by the kind of reading that they evoke (p. 67-68).

At the core of the friendship of Tolkien and Lewis was their shared antipathy to the modern world.  They were not opposed to dentists, buses, draft beer, and other features of the twentieth century, but what they viewed as the underlying mentality of modernism.  They were not against science or scientists, but the cult of science, found in modernism, and its tendency to monopolize knowledge, denying alternative approaches to knowledge through the arts, religion, and ordinary human wisdom (p. 107).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some non-explicit allusions to possible sexual relationships between some adults and discussion of the trauma of wartime for soldiers.

This is my 29th book read from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2023.

The In or Out Tag

Spotted this at both Deborah Koren's blog and Cindy's Book Corner and thought it looked like too much fun to pass up :-)

Unlike most tags, there are no rules about thanking people or tagging people.  If you want to fill it out, you can!  If you don't, then don't!  

Reading the Last Page First -- OUT.  I can only remember doing this once, and it was for And Now Tomorrow by Rachel Field.  I did it that time because the first section of the book made it sound like the book was going to end differently than the 1944 movie, and I adore the 1944 movie, so I had to find out if it ended the same way or not.  Because, if it didn't, I wasn't going to bother reading the whole book.  But it does, so I did read it.  And loved it.

Ordinarily, though, I don't want to ruin the flow of a story by reading the ending first.

(Bwahaha!  I snuck an Alan Ladd picture in here!)

Enemies to Lovers -- IN.  It's not my favorite trope, but I love books like Pride and Prejudice, North and South, and the Anne of Green Gables books a lot, and they all use this, so I'm fine with it.

Dream Sequences -- IN.  Sometimes, I don't even mind "it was all a dream."

Love Triangles -- IN.  They're a classic.  I've even used them myself, like in My Rock and My Refuge.  

(This and all the following book photos
are mine from my Instagram account.)

Cracked Spines -- OUT.  OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT.  My mother gave me a boxed set of four Jane Austen novels for my birthday when I was in my upper teens.  Then she borrowed them each in turn to read herself and absolutely destroyed their spines.  Not only did they no longer fit in the slipcover, you couldn't even read the titles on the spines.  They made me sad every time I looked at them, and I eventually gave them away.  I still have my original Anne of Green Gables paperbacks that my mom also ruined that way, but my grandma gave me those, so I keep them anyway.

Now, a caveat to all that, though -- if I'm buying a used copy of a vintage paperback, like a Louis L'Amour or a Rex Stout or something like that, I am super fine with the book looking like it lived in someone's back pocket for weeks on end fifty years ago.  In fact, I prefer those to shiny, new copies for specific genres and authors.  But I WILL NOT contribute MORE crackage to their spines.  And I prefer them not to be so cracked that I can't read the title anymore.

Back to My Small Town -- IN.  Although "someone new comes to town, and everything changes" is my favorite trope, I also love "someone comes back home, and everything changes."  Probably my favorite versions of that are the book The Count of Monte Cristo and movie The Lone Ranger (2013).

 

No Paragraph Breaks -- OUT.  Also, ew.  Also, I don't think I've ever read a book like that, but I'm against it on principle.

Multi-generational Sagas -- IN.  I mean, I'm embarking on a quest to read all of the Sackett novels by Louis L'Amour this year, so I'm obviously a fan, right?  Also, I love historical fiction, and that sort of thing generally involves lots of history.

Monsters Are Regular People -- OUT if you mean horrific villains are portrayed as normal and acceptable.  IN if you mean stories where vampires just wanna make friends and hold down a job.  Angel (1999-2004) is my second-favorite TV show of all time, after all.

Re-Reading -- IN.  I reread a LOT.  I've estimated that 1 out of 4 books I read is a reread, usually.  This past year, it was closer to 1 in 3 -- I read 103 books, and 29 were rereads.

Artificial Intelligence -- OUT.  I don't read much sci-fi, and I just am not a fan of sentient robots in general.

Drop Caps -- IN.  They usually look amazing.

Happy Endings -- IN.  I LOVE happy endings!!!

Plot Points That Only Converge at the End -- IN, as long as the book isn't too long.  I must admit, I've never read a book by Tom Clancy because I've heard so many people talk about how he'll start like eight little plots going and you never find out how they're related until the very end, and that does sound kind of daunting to keep straight.  But J. K. Rowling did the same thing over the course of the Harry Potter series, really, and I loved that.  So... I'm not against it, anyway.

Detailed Magic Systems -- IN if I don't have to read all the details.  Out if the book is basically a travelogue about a fictional world.  This is part of why I don't read a ton of fantasy and sci-fi.  Descriptions of places and how things work bore me, and if that's the bulk of your first few chapters, I'm outta here.

Classic Fantasy Races -- IN.  The fantasy I do dig, such as The Lord of the Rings and Eragon and Harry Potter, all use classic things like unicorns and elves and dwarves and centaurs and dragons. 

Unreliable Narrators -- OUT.  I am not a fan.  I want to trust the narrator to tell me what's going on.  If I can't, I'm probably going to dislike the book.

Evil Protagonists -- OUT.  One of the things I demand from fiction is that it restore moral balance by the end of the book.  Also, if the protag is evil, I'm really not going to want to like them.  And if I don't like the protag, and they either have to face dire consequences or will get away with being evil... why would I want to read that?  Why???

The Chosen One -- IN.  Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Eragon, the Pevensie kids... I'm totally a fan.

When the Protagonist Dies -- IN and OUT.  Ordinarily, I hate it.  I want my happy ending.  Buuuuuuut... Hamlet dies.  And I adore Hamlet.  I can be okay with protag death if that still results in a good ending.

Really Long Chapters -- IN, I guess?  I don't care, when I read.  I tend to write short chapters, though.

French Flaps -- OUT just because I don't really have any books with them and they seem annoying.  I had to look up what they are, though.

Deckled Edges -- IN.  I am a very sensory, tactile-oriented person, and how a book feels can matter a lot to me.  Like, I really can't stand cloth-bound books and avoid buying them.  I love the feel of deckled edges :-)

Signed Copies by the Author -- IN!  Why would anybody not want that?

Dog-Earing Pages -- IN!  Books are not sacred objects.  It's okay to bend the pages.  When I was just starting to read chapter books, I had a toddler brother who delighted in pulling bookmarks out of every book he found, so for several years, dog-earing was a necessity.  I usually use a bookmark, but if I don't have one, I don't feel guilty about dog-earing. 

Chapter Titles Instead of Numbers -- IN!  But be aware I will probably ignore them completely.

I was not tagged with this, so I'm not tagging anyone else, but if you think this looks fun, by all means fill it out yourself!

Top Ten Tuesday: Old and Loving It

I missed the August 16 Top Ten Tuesday prompt from That Artsy Reader Girl, so I'm doing it for this week's freebie.  It was "Books I love that were written over ten years ago."  Ahem.  That's actually ALL of my top ten favorite books of all time!  So, here they are, with their publication dates in case you are curious:

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- published in 1847

2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas -- published in 1844

3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien -- published in 1955

4. The Hound of the Baskervilles by A. Conan Doyle -- published in 1902

5. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton -- published in 1967

6. The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery -- published in 1926

7. Persuasion by Jane Austen -- published in 1817

8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows -- published in 2008

9. Shane by Jack Schaefer -- published in 1949

10. The Black Stallion by Walter Farley -- published in 1941

I think it's rather cool that my top ten favorite books basically span 200 years, from 1817 to 2008!

Wrapping Up the 2021 Tolkien Blog Party

Well, here we are at the end of another Tolkien Blog Party.  Thank you so much for participating!  If you've still got a post or two you want to contribute, it's not too late!  You can add your link to the widget below any time still.  And if you haven't had a chance to visit everyone's posts yet (like I haven't -- but I will read them all eventually!), here are all the links again, to make it easier for you to find them:

I've had such a wonderful time discussing J.R.R. Tolkien with you, playing party games, and so on.  I hope you've had fun too.  I'm already looking forward to next year!

"The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" by J. R. R. Tolkien

I did not realize this is a collection of poetry!  I thought it was going to be short stories like Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham, but about Tom Bombadil instead.  But it's not, it's poetry.  

The edition I read, which is the one pictured here, contains the poems that Tolkien published under this title in the '60s, plus a whole lot of commentary on the poems, earlier variations of them, explanations of their history, discussions of how they fit into his Middle-earth world, and so on.  There's more of that than of the poetry itself, really.

The poems themselves are not long, and quite varied.  Tolkien states, in his preface, that they come from the Red Book of Westmarch, in the Shire, but they were collected from different places.  Some of them are attributed to Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

My favorites were "The Hoard" and "Shadow-Bride."  

"The Hoard" is about a sort of cursed treasure that various people acquire and then waste their lives guarding, only to lose it to someone else when they die.  It doesn't do anyone any good, least of all those who 'own' it, and is rather a dark and cautionary tale.

"Shadow-Bride" is mysterious and ethereal and a little spooky.  An immovable man-statue suddenly comes to life when a shadowy woman comes near him, they embrace, and become a double-statue that only comes back to life at certain times.  Or something.  Like I said, it's fairly mysterious -- but that's what I liked about it.

If you love Tolkien, especially his poetry, this is a lot of fun.

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for a bit of violence here and there, and some imagery that might scare small kids, but there's nothing harmful here.

This has been my 27th book read and reviewed for my third Classics Club list and my 39th from my TBR shelves for #TheUnreadShelfProject2021.  This has also been another contribution to my 2021 Tolkien Blog Party :-)

Middle-earth Food Quiz: A Party Game

Tolkien's books are full of food.  I get hungry just reading them!  This particular quiz tests whether or not specific foods are mentioned in either The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings -- the BOOKS.  Not whether they appear in the movies, but whether Tolkien mentioned them in those two books, meaning they do exist canonically in Middle-earth.

You just have to say "yes" if they are mentioned, and "no" if they aren't!

1. Apples
2. Bacon
3. Blackberries
4. Butter
5. Cheese
6. Chocolate
7. Coffee
8. Eggs
9. Garlic
10. Honey
11. Mushrooms
12. Pickles
13. Potatoes
14. Salad
15. Tomatoes

I'll put comments on full moderation so no one can copy your answers.  I'll post everyone's scores, and the correct answers, on Saturday!

A Tolkien Blog Party 2021 -- Kick-Off Post + Tag

Welcome, hobbits and humans, elves and dwarves, and all free peoples!  Welcome to the ninth annual Tolkien Blog Party.

Nine is such a significant number in Lord of the Rings.  There are nine companions in the fellowship of the Ring, nine Nazgul, and so on.  I'm really excited that this event has been so long-lived!  I look forward to hosting it every year.  I collect up prizes for the giveaway for months.  It's such a delight to share the love of Tolkien's storytelling with you, year after year!

Speaking of the giveaway, I posted that a couple minutes ago, so you can check out the prizes and enter it right here.  It's open worldwide, as always!

I did something a little different with this year's tag, to reflect the theme of nine.  Here it is:

1. Aragorn: Favorite Tolkien hero/heroine

2. Boromir: Favorite Tolkien character arc

3. Frodo: Favorite song or poem by Tolkien

4. Gandalf: Favorite wise Tolkien quotation

5. Gimli: A Middle-earth location you'd like to visit

6. Legolas: Favorite Middle-earth Weapon

7. Merry: Favorite way to celebrate Tolkien's stories

8. Pippin: Favorite funny Tolkien quotation

9. Samwise: A Middle-earth food you'd like to try

Just copy that to your own blog and answer it, then be sure to share a link to your post in the widget below.

Like last year, you are not limited to doing that tag, when it comes to participating in this party!  You can contribute ANY Tolkien-related post, as long as it is new. (Please don't link to something you posted last year, for instance.) 

Anything Tolkien-related is welcome -- it doesn't have to revolve around Middle-earth. You could review a book by or about Tolkien, share thoughts about the movies, list off your favorite Tolkien quotations, share your collection of LOTR merch, whatever! There's no sign-up sheet, just post what you want to and then share your post via this link-up:

Don't forget to add a button to your posts!  I think these are my favorite buttons of any I've made for this event.  Practice makes perfect?  Anyway, be sure to link back to this post so your blog followers can come party with us.

I'll be posting a couple of games over the course of this week, so be sure to check back for those!  Especially since participating in them can gain you bonus entries in the giveaway.

Thank you for joining me to celebrate the inspirational storytelling of J. R. R. Tolkien.  I hope you'll have fun, enjoy reading each others' posts, and maybe even make some new friends. I'm so glad you're here!

Announcing the 9th Annual Tolkien Blog Party

Good morning, lovely friends!  Can you believe it's time to start gearing up for the NINTH Tolkien Blog Party?  Oh my goodness, that number is just so exciting!  Nine is an important number in The Lord of the Rings, after all, what with the nine companions making up the Fellowship and so on.

Tolkien Week this year is September 19-25, so that's when I'll be holding my party.  For a whole week, we will celebrate all things Tolkien together!

Like last year, there will be many, many options for you to participate.  Yes, I will provide an official tag to fill out, some games to play, and a giveaway (I'm aiming for nine prizes...).  But you will get to contribute any kind of Tolkien-related post you so desire!

There's no sign-up sheet and no limit on how many posts you can contribute.  The only rules are that they must be family-friendly posts, and they must be NEW posts.  No fair linking to some book or movie review you wrote years ago.

Your posts don't have to involve Middle-earth, even though all my buttons do.  If you want to review Roverandom or Letters from Father Christmas or Tolkien's translation of Beowulf, for example, that is heartily welcomed!  If you want to review a biography of Tolkien, be it book or movie, that's totally cool.  Most of my games and so on will revolve around Middle-earth, but anything Tolkien-related is fair game for your contributions.

Please share a button or two on your own blog to let people know about the party.  They just might be my favorite blog party buttons I've ever made, to be honest.  I have such a thing for silhouettes.

If you want to comment here voicing your enthusiasm, asking questions, or just bouncing around ideas for what you want to post about, I am here for that!

Thrusting the Snow Aside: February 2021 Inklings

It's still February, so I still have time to join this month's Inklings link-up hosted by Heidi here at Along the Brandywine.  This month, the prompt is a snow scene in book or film.

I'm choosing the attempt to pass through the Redhorn Gate in the White Mountains of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.  The fellowship is trying to make their way through the mountains, but a mysterious and evil snowstorm falls upon them and forces them to halt.  They realize they must turn back, but they've become cut off by vast mounts of snow, both before them and behind them.  The snow is so deep, it's far over the heads of the hobbits, and they'll never be able to struggle through it.  So Aragorn and Boromir decide to force a path through it for the others to follow.

Aragorn was the tallest of the Company, but Boromir, little less in height, was broader and heavier in build.  He led the way, and Aragorn followed him.  Slowly they moved off, and were soon toiling heavily.  In places the snow was breast-high, and often Boromir seemed to be swimming or burrowing with his great arms rather than walking (p. 284).

I love that image of the two mighty warriors and leaders of men turning themselves into snowplows to make a path for the smaller members of their company.  And that's not all they do!  When they return, the hobbits worry that still the snow will be too deep underfoot for them to get through.

"Have hope!" said Boromir.  "I am weary, but I still have some strength left, and Aragorn too.  We will bear the little folk.  The others no doubt will make shift to tread the path behind us.  Come, Master Peregrin!  I will begin with you."

He lifted up the hobbit.  "Cling to my back! I shall need my arms," he said and strode forward.  Aragorn and Merry came behind.  Pippin marvelled at his strength, seeing the passage that he had already forced with no other tool than his great limbs.  Even now, burdened as he was, he was widening the track for those who followed, thrusting the snow aside as he went (p. 285-86).

Again, what an amazing example of true leadership!  The heir to the stewardship of Gondor and the rightful king of all Middle-earth use their strength to serve others.  They're not too proud or too busy or too filled with their own self-importance to serve even the smallest person.  What mighty leaders!

(Mine from my Instagram account.)

I'm eager to see what Heidi's prompt for next month is!  Here's hoping I don't wait to participate until the very last day next time ;-)