Cate Crafter

It’s roughly the middle of the year and I am super behind on my reading goals. This tag seems pretty apt so I thought I would do it for the first time this year. The tag was originally created by Earl Gray Books and Read Like Wildfire.

I was going to start a Booktube channel but I’m probs going to put that off until I get myself a new MacBook as this one I am writing on literally right now well not literally because while I am currently writing you won’t read this until the me that is writing at the moment is a past version of me. Freaky. Basically this MacBook ancient, Mesopotamian one might say, and it can’t handle final cut pro and like to just spontaneously crash. The last video I made on my channel took aeons to edit and gave me a full-blown breakdown as hours of work just kept disappearing. I could buy a new one but this one keeps ticking on…

Stats - from StoryGraph

“14” books, one was a short story of like 3 pages, and another was an essay that was weird and isn’t on StoryGraph. I did set myself a target of 50 books back in January, laughed at myself a few months ago and dropped it to 45, and then I have kind of given up on the goal, maybe I should just leave Goodreads lol and come fully over to StoryGraph.

Anyway, let’s get on with the tag

1. The best book you’ve read so far this year

Every answer on this tag might be The Lord of the Rings. I read the book or trilogy depending on how you see it for the first time this year after watching the films a billion times and reading Tolkien’s epic is perhaps one of the best things I have done in 2021 as a whole. I mean, it’s not been action-packed because of old corona, but I am practically a hobbit, so I wouldn’t have done much so far in the year anyway.

2. The best sequel you've read so far this year

The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien. I warned you.

3. New release you haven't read yet but want to

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, I got the Waterstones special edition the day it came out but I haven’t read it yet! What is wrong with me lol. I always do this.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

I don’t really keep up with releases as per prompt 3, but I have an advanced reader copy of A Strange and Brilliant Light by Eli Lee from Netgalley which comes out in July. It sounds pretty interesting and fits in with my whole Sci-fi fantasy mood at the moment.

5. Biggest disappointment

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. Seemingly everyone loves the Sherlock Holmes stories but I just don’t lol. I found Baskervilles to be so dull and boring, and tbh I only read it because I was writing an article for work about the legend that inspired the story. I have read two others A study in Scarlet which was ok and Sign of the Four which I hated. I just don’t get the hype, these are not really classics they are just popular

6. Biggest surprise

Oedipus the King by Sophocles I listened to the full play on audible and I really enjoyed it. I’m surprised because I thought it might be dull or too hard to get into but I guess the translation was pretty modern, unlike Shakespeare which really needs to be watched to be understood. It shouldn't really be a surprise though because I used to hang out in the library at lunchtime when I was at school and read greek tragedies. How edgy and Dark Academia of me lol.

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Tolkien mon amour, tu est très très magnifique

8. Newest fictional crush

Not new because of the movies but Aragorn is such a babe and I don’t really crush on characters…

9. Newest favourite character.

Samwise Gamgee the real MVP of lord of the rings, he is just, the perfect friend and like if I was him I would have run home when Shelob came along - no who am I kidding I would have had a heart attack. He is too pure for middle Earth and I just love him

10. Book that made you cry.

The Two Towers, the bit where Sam thinks Frodo is dead just made me cry…and a tear landed on the page, it was a whole moment.

11. Book that made you happy.

Ummm… lotr….man this really is just all lord of the rings lol

12. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)

I have a few. Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq I saw the Better than Food review and the copy Cliff had…I was like yes I need that one, not the ugly UK version. My second-hand copy of The Shining that I got from Better World Books is just the best and Klara and the Sun is rather pretty too.

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

The Silmarillion because I now worship at the altar of Tolkien, I also want to read Foundation before the Apple TV+ series with Jared Harris and Lee Pace comes out. Same with The Wheel of Time, like I’m not gonna read all 14 books anytime soon (it took me like 3 months to read LOTR!) I think I need to read at least the first book The Eye of the World before the tv series comes out, I also need to read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and Neuromancer by William Gibson - so basically lots of fantasy and sci-fi because that’s all I want to read at the moment.

Thanks for reading and if you fancy grabbing any of the books mentioned check out the affiliate links, they will get you great books, help your local bookstores (through bookshop.org) and get me a small commission. Winners all around! Take care and I’m going to try and get back to blogging more, the past couple months have been a bit overwhelming for some reason but I’m starting to feel better again and like I have enthusiasm for my side hustles and hobbies again.

I have watched the movies a billion times, but this was my first reading of the first novel in the trilogy. I tried many years ago, but I found the print too small, and I would get a headache nearly immediately. I didn’t realise that I needed glasses at this point. Fool of a Took!

After I got glasses, I was then put off because I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the books, as if the hype of J.R.R Tolkien and the brilliance of the movies might not come through in the books. An example of this is Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I had watched the movie (several times) long before reading the source material and found that I hated the book, it was dull and boring, and the huge deviations from the plot that Ridley Scott had made in the film made it so much better, so so much better. Could Peter Jackson have done the same? Perhaps, was all that was on my mind, so a few more years passed until I finally picked up the book this past month.

And I can wholeheartedly say that I absolutely loved it! Much to my relief. However, a part of me felt sorrow that I hadn’t read it sooner. But I know for sure that I will re-read this book many more times throughout my life. Moreover, perhaps if I have children (very unlikely) or in my role as an Aunt to my (almost certain) future nieces and/or nephews, I will read these books to them.

The magic that Tolkien weaves is not only in the fantastical plot and the cast of characters (elves, wizards and dwarves) but also within the way he crafts the story and describes the settings. I want to visit The Shire, Rivendell and Lothlórien because of how beautifully realised they are and Tolkien’s keen love for nature really shines through in his descriptions of these places. Furthermore, It is easy to see how much work and time went into creating his middle-earth, a lifetime really and its magnificent. The scope and mythology permeate every line, and the charming (though often disliked) song interludes only add to this.

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Narratively, The Fellowship of the Ring is a solid beginning to the adventure, and it’s obvious that the trilogy was originally intended to be one whole book, and I kind of still view it that way, same for the movies; the extended editions feel like a whole mini-series rather than three separate movies.

Tonally, I love how Tolkien writes. There is a seriousness and gravity to the story, but there is also great lightness and humour, especially at the beginning; I found myself chuckling aloud at the drama of Bilbo’s dealings with the Sackville-Baggins family. Another thing that felt better in the books was the passing of time. In the movies, the fellowship’s journey doesn’t seem to last anywhere near as long as it does in the book, and that’s because those epic aerial shots in the films don’t last anywhere near as long as Tolkien’s descriptions. And rightly so, different mediums have different ways of telling a story, and a film can’t dwell on the small details for as nearly as long as a book can.

However, one thing I will say against the book is that I kind of found Tom Bombadil a bit shit. There I said it. In my opinion, Jackson did well to leave him out of the movies as he doesn’t really serve much purpose to the wider story thus far anyway (does he even come back again?). I know there’s a divide between Lord of the Rings fans about Bombadil, and I must say that I am on the side that sees him as a non-entity. Maybe that’s harsh, but I also feel in further re-reads I’ll probably skip his chapters! Perhaps, it’s his selfishness that irks me, as it’s clear that Bombadil is too wrapped up in his own life to worry about what might happen if the ring gets into the wrong hands. Even stoic and eternal Elves, ancient Ents and the majestic eagles help despite their ‘oldness’, so to have Tom Bombadil sit out the most important fight for middle-earth just exposes him as an absolute arsehole. That's the tea ☕

As for the rest of the characters, I love them all, though not equally. Samwise is so bloody wholesome, Aragorn is equally as charming and valiant as he is in the movies, but perhaps a little graver, and I have to admit that since I was like 8, I’ve had a massive crush on the character (of course, who wouldn’t when he is portrayed by the dashing Viggo Mortensen lol).

Frodo is perhaps less annoying than he is in the movies; Legolas is as cute as always and more interesting as in the movies he’s kind of just there to look cool and state obvious things. Gimli is just Gimli; Merry and Pippin are perhaps not as mischievous as they were in the movies? And Gandalf, you ruddy legend, though his ‘you cannot pass’ doesn’t hold the same gravitas as ‘YOU SHALL NOT PASS!’.

Lastly, Boromir, he’s a bit of a twat, a broken record if you will, and I must say in the movies, I preferred his brother Faramir, but of course, we won’t meet him until later in the trilogy. But his purpose of demonstrating the weakness of man in the face of the one ring is still very much pertinent and just as brilliant as Sean Bean portrayed it in the movies.

Overall, I have loved reading the first part of The Lord of the Rings, and I can’t wait to pick up the next book and continue the journey. This story is so familiar to me because of how many times I’ve watched the movies, but I equally like the surprises of how the source material differs from its cinematic adaptation.

I also feel like I’m on a journey with firm friends, and it’s lovely to read a story in such uncertain times that sees the slow and arduous triumph of good over evil. It’s a comfort book that makes me feel all cosy and warm inside, and wishing I could be reading it on a chaise lounge in the middle of Rivendell. Wouldn’t that be something?

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag