h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Still havent got furthe than half way through the hobbit. found i very dull.

The screwtape letters is a really good book

Hey doll merry doll Tom Bombadilo...

Never trust a man with hairy feet.

I've never finished Return of the King. Managed Fellowship all right, Two Towers was a struggle, got a third through Return of the King and decided life was way too short.

And Tom Bombadill just needs hitting over the head with a shovel.

As for those ***kin' hobbits...they should set a pack of orcs on 'em.

KA...many people have observed that LoTR deteriorates as it goes on.

I've started reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

Oh my God! What a Revalation! (Seriously)

I never thought you could ram so much religous propaganda into a "serious" book.

No, really, read it. One example that had me wanting to set fire to the copy I brought a few days ago was where the author is talking about NLP and other self-programming techniques, and states that they appear to be based on what people have read in the bible.

well I'm nearly done with this year's go at LOTR - well, I've nearly finished The Two Towers and it rocks.

More please. Although you can keep Tom fol-de-roll Bombadillo with his bloomin' yellow boots. Gah.

But I have to say, Faramir makes me want to gag. I want Boromir back, now there's a man with a sword to get sweaty with...

oh, where was I? sorry

Started reading, Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey - truly fascinating book about geology.

Whatever gets your rocks off.

(Sorry - I couldn't resist.)

Clive, That's a good choice just learned enough without being off-puttingly technical. If you like Richard Fortey's style, Trilobite's worth a read too.

I'm currently reading Absolute Altitude by Martin Buckley. It's subtitled a hitchhiker's guide to the sky and is a combination of 2 of my interests - travel stories and flying.

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My left hand is acting up right now, so I have trouble holding paperbacks. I've had to put the ones I've been reading to one side for a while and go for some hardbacks that I can rest on my lap or on a table. I'm reading Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, and Ingenious Pursuits by Lisa Jardine. The latter is about the nature of scientific endeavours in the 17th-18th century, when they didn't make the distinction between 'Art' and 'Science' that we do nowadays.

Oh dear Bod.

I see the Sainted Christopher Tolkien (is that fawning enough?) is beyond criticism then. n the BBC at least.

Did the naughty Shark get modded? Do we not approve of little Chris picking through the bones of his father's leftovers?

I was going to say that I think Orwell's 1984 is a kind of SF and it will be read in 100 years but on reflection I think the way things are going it's now more than probable it will be banned before the 100 years deadline. One recalls the brainwashed Nazis marching round the Parisian bookshops with their 8,000 banned authors lists!

Still ploughing through Ellison's Invisible Man - the end finally in sight!
Quote from Mrs LL (Thomas Bernhard fan): 'Why don't you read thin books for a change?'
'Well I do review poetry books,' I replied.
'They don't count!" she quickly countered.

Snookered again!

Finished run baby run and now reading the single issue by al hsu

Well, let's see.

1) I suggested that LotR might have benefited from being edited properly.
2) Suggested Tom Bombadil was a less than useful literary character
3) Used a very specific word of Indian origin (strangely to do with picking over dead meat) in connection with that gentleman, yes.

Ho hum

I think Tom Bombadil was something Tolkien particularly wanted kept in. But as a character, he doesn't contribute much to the story.

Terry Pratchett said that if you read LoTR as a kid and didn't love it, there was something wrong with you. If you read it again as an adult and *still* loved it, there was something wrong with you. I loved it as a child and decided to reread it when the films came out. I got to page 32, IIRC, before I thought I had better things to do. Saying that, I read it once a year or so til my early 20s.

Maybe there's something slightly wrong with me, then.

Take a survey. I bet you these Tolkien books appeal to you chaps who like to discuss cricket.