“Oh yeah, well I have completed the LOTR, Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and 11/12 History of Middle Earth volumes as well as few other obscure JRRT Middle Earth literature.
BEAT THAT (Of course I only mean this in a friendly, and not antagonistic way, my friends ;))!”
The question is: how many times have you read each one? :^)
Listening to the Silmarillion now. Besides the booka listed, I have The Road Goes Ever On and On, the songbook, and the Caemon record on it with Tolkien himself reading poems from the Tolkien Reader. I also still have my 1965 First america printing paperbacks, but they are a bit worn out.
The books I read at least once a year until my thirties. Now I read it every several years,
I have not read them more than once. I would say that my favorites are probably The Silmarillion, Return of The King (the siege of Minas Tirith was so much more grand than the movie, as well contained the scouring of the Shire), as well as the first few History books, and Morgoth’s Ring (for references to Christ’s redemption of humanity).
Definitely recommend all Tolkien materiel!
I’ve read LOTR for the 17th time now. I’ve read The Hobbit to my children, grandchildren, and soon my great grandchildren over and over again. I studied the Silmarillion for three years and cross-referenced the notes to LOTR and the Hobbit. I’ve read everything that JRR and Christopher wrote...plus any other books I could get my hands on...biographies, letter, beastiaries, commentaries, etc.
In the 70s, my cousins sons and their friends (all high school kids), would come over to my house and we would study LOTR and the Middle Earth myth. When they decided to play D&D, they asked me to be their DM. Our entire gameplay was based on middle earth mythology. Maps, clues, directions, tasks were all written by yours truly using the Feanorian characters. It made the gameplay a lot more mysterious and fun. I never really got into studying or writing with Dwarfish Runes.
JRR was a brilliant man who wrote True Myth all grounded in his devout Christian life.