Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the Yay for YA Discussion About YA Books Now  

“A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds.”

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

by 2 Comments

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.   By now, I think practically everyone has either read the book or seen the movies, hopefully both. (Full disclosure: I will judge heavily anyone who has only seen the movies; why would you do that to yourself?) The book, as is frequently the case, is loads better. No unnecessary romantic subplots, no characters who are dead making appearances, no characters showing up far too many years […]

In which we have an abundance of evidence that Tolkien *really* had a thing for eagles.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

by 2 Comments

This is a book, like The Lord of the Rings, that I think I will appreciate more each time I read it. The only time I’d read it before this was my senior year of high school during the height of my LOTR fervor, and it entirely overwhelmed me. I remember I had to have a notebook near me while reading on which I drew a lot of family trees. I had a need to keep all the elves and endless descendants of Beor straight. […]

There is nothing new to say about these books, so these are my idle thoughts.

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

by 26 Comments

J.R.R. Tolkien began working on what would eventually become the world depicted so beautifully in The Lord of the Rings while convalescing after the Battle of the Somme, during WWI. Over the subsequent thirty-some years, he would expand his creation to include multiple fully-developed languages, and a fully-realized legendarium that covered thousands of years of history and numerous cultures. It is a singularly amazing achievement, unrivaled by any single creator of whom I am familiar. His works have influenced just about every fantasy author over […]

Middle Earth or New Zealand for this BINGO square; it’s a toss up. #CBRBingo – I Wish

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

by Leave a Comment

“You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!” I have always wanted to go to Middle Earth. Well, I say always, but I actually came to The Hobbit a little late (and The Lord of the Rings later than that). It was required reading for freshman year English class in my high school. I was absolutely enchanted by it, especially the “Riddles in the […]

One to Bind Them All

by Leave a Comment

Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (1988) – There are several books on my shelves that I must reread every couple years because I miss them.  The Lord of the Rings is one of them (along with Dune, Harry Potter, and the Modesty Blaise books).  I guess I originally read it in the seventies and have reread it consistently through the years.  Although I’ll try not to compare the book with the movie, after you’ve seen Viggo and Elijah as Aragorn and Frodo, it’s […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo