Lord of the Rings Read-A-Long Schedule(Updated)

Image via WikipediaI am sure that most of you are wondering when the Lord of the Rings Challenge is going to begin for the month of September. As of right now we are planning on starting the Fellowship of the Ring Book on September 3 or before if you are really getting antsy to read it.

The questions will be send out September 8th and the answers will be be on mine and Little Red Reviewer's blog on September 10 and whomever else  would like to blog with us.

• 1st week (Little Red Reviewer does questions) A long Expected Party thru Fog on the Barrows down (8 chapters)
• 2nd week (I do questions) At the sign of the prancing Pony thru The Ring Goes South (7 chapters)
• 3rd week (Little Red Reviewer does questions) A Journey in the Dark thru The Breaking of the Fellowship (7 chapters).  

We hope that this works out great for everyone participating. So tell all your friends about the event that is going to be taking place for the next couple of months. It is not to late to join in the LOTR Read-a-Long. You can sign up here or through Little Red Reviewer. 

The Hobbit Group Read-a-Long Discussion Part 3

I just cannot believe that The Hobbit part of the Read-a-long has now come to a close. We’ll be picking up The Lord of the Rings trilogy next month, so there’s more excitement to come! It sure was something  how Bilbo and the band of misfits survived as far as they have in the book. just the way that the team did get past some of the blocks in the travel is also something to be said, but mostly because of little helpless Bilbo Baggins.

Here are the Discussion questions below for the final section of the book:

What were your thoughts of how Smaug was killed? If you did not like it what do you think Tolkien could have done differently?
Were you satisfied with the ending of The Hobbit?
What or who was your favorite part of the book?
What were your thoughts when Bilbo gave Bard the Arkenstone of Thrain?
After reading the book will you be going to see The Hobbit in theaters?

Other responses:

Little Red Reviewer
The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf


What were your thoughts of how Smaug was killed? If you did not like it what do you think Tolkien could have done differently?

I did not mind how Bard took the dragon down with a Hail Mary shot. It was a Doug Flutie caliber shot all for nothing. With Bard being to his last arrow and he came through when his people needed him most. I would have liked it a little more if the dysfunctional party would have had more to so with taking down Smaug. I did like the way that Bilbo delivered the message to the Lake people.

Were you satisfied with the ending of The Hobbit? 

I was satisfied how the book ended, but I did not like the lull that was in the middle of the book. I did like the way that action did pick up quite a bit in the end. Tolkien is a good story tell at times and other times he is okay at best. In the third section, I did like some of the twist and turns that he brought us though to the journey. I did like that Thorin did reconciles with Bilbo before he dies.
I just cannot believe that Bilbo during battle hide during the whole affair of the 5 race war with the slip of the ring on his finger.

What or who was your favorite part of the book?

After meeting Smaug the "badass" I was wondering how the party was going to take down the dragon.The suspense was keeping my reading and did not let me put the book down.  In the end, it was not them at all. It was bard that did their dirty work and killed Smaug. I would have rather had the party do something more than nothing.

It sure is hard to choose what party is my favorite, but I choose this one. It was either this or how Bilbo escaped from the riddle game of Gollum.

What were your thoughts when Bilbo gave Bard the Arkenstone of Thrain?

At first I was wondering what in the world was Bilbo trying to do giving away the Arkenstone, something that means so much to Thorin. Then you read on and see that Bilbo knows that a war between the dwarves vs the lake people and elves is about to commence. The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Bilbo gace to them in hopes a bargaining piece so that the dwarves would not attack the other two race. i think that this shows that little Bilbo does have in his small frame.

Bilbo is trying so hard to keep peace between the two side. That thoughts was lost when the goblins showed by all 3 races joined together and defeated the goblins in the end.



After reading the book will you be going to see The Hobbit in theaters?

Who came up with this question anyways...oh yeah it was me. Yes of course I will be seeing the movies in theaters. I saw all Lord of the Rings at the BIG SCREEN. So I will be their with chain mail(not quite) and all. Here are the details of the movies, if anyone is wondering.  What kind of a geek would I be if i did not see this feature at the movie theatre...hmmm:)

I would like to thank everyone for joining  Little Red Review and I  in the journey throughout the book. Do not forget to join us in the reading of the Fellowship of the Ring(first book of Lord of the Rings). We will starting reading it Labor Day weekend.We will have a schedule posted up soon.

The Hobbit Group Read-a-Long Discussion Part 2

Sorry everyone my post scheduler did not work for the day that I wanted this post to go up....ugggh. 

The march with Bilbo has continued this past week in The Hobbit Read-a-Long Round 2. It seems that the dwarves are starting to respect Gandalf's decision in choosing Bilbo to come along on the trip to regain their treasure from the dragon.

This week, Andrea (Little Red Reviewer) took on the challenge of coming up with this week’s discussion questions. Thank you Andrea! She sent out a list of questions giving responders the option of answering all or just some of the questions.  

Remember these are my answers of the read-a-long. Go ahead and visit Little Red Reviewer and see her answers and thoughts about the second part of the The Hobbit.

Here you go ans see what my thoughts are thus far:

There's some thought that Gandalf purposely didn't prepare the dwarves and Bilbo very well, that much of their trials is him testing them. What do you think of that theory, and what do you think he's testing/preparing them for?

I think that Gandalf did do this on purpose to the party in fact. It is like a life lesson, if you are thrown lemons you do what you can what life throws at you. After that you hope for the best. The party sure is gelling together as a good cohesive unit on the venture to regain the treasure from the dragon.

What did you think of Bilbo's escape plan from the Wood-Elves?

Well the party was stuck in a fortress that there were two way to get in and out. I think that it was great thinking for Bilbo. The downside of the plan from the dwarf’s point of view was being stuck in a used barrel floating down the river. Some of the barrel smelled better than others, but now some of the party is scared for life. With them smelling whine or fruit the whole way.  

For what Bilbo had to work with it did an adequate job, but the problem was he forgot to think of himself getting in a barrel as the elves were tossing the barrels. To me Bilbo sure does not think a plan ALL the way through at times. At the moment, it may sound great, but later he gets the oh crap factor. He gets bite in the hind end. I give the plan a B-

Do you like Tolkien's writing style?

I like the way that Tolkien tells the story. It is like my father or grandfather is telling me a story before going to bed as a child. He also allows the reader to have an imagination.  Two people can picture a character in his book(s) differently. I like the freedom that he shows.

Some authors get to descript and does not allow the reader to have much of an imagination, thus losing the readers interest.

What did you think of Smaug? How does he compare to other fantasy novel dragons you've come across?

Smaug is the classic dragon; deeply magical, he hoards treasure and burns innocent towns. He is something the people around the mountain fears. Something different about Smaug is his smart and tries trickery to get at HIS enemies. He is much like Ursula K. Le Guin, world of Earthsea, but the dragons do in fact change from the beginning of LeGuin’s series.

In the beginning with unbounded greed for hoards of precious jewelry; later, they grow in stature and nobility, to become virtual demi-gods who speak the "Language of Creation" as their mother tongue. Later still, it is revealed that they share an ancestry with humanity, and that some rare humans (always women) can change into dragons at will.

How in the world is a hobbit and a bunch of unorganized dwarves who have hardly any weapons going to defeat an angry and greedy dragon?

This is going to be an interesting feat to see if the party can defeat the dragon that is both fierce and good at trickery, as well as intelligent. With the limited weapons it is going to be something on how they are going to take down this beast. The dwarves do know that there is a kink in the amour for the dragon. Bilbo did see that Smaug’s left breast is exposed at told the rest of the party.

Will the thrush (it looks like a robin) get some reinforcements for the party that is not really sure which way is up. 

We will see at the last this of this thrilling adventure.  Then we will be seeing whar happens in the end with the dysfunctional party.

Finished Falling Skies

I sure am glad that their is a DVR these days. For those who did catch the series Falling Skies and those who did not here is the jist. Falling Skies tells the story of the aftermath of a global invasion by several races of extraterrestrials (including the lizard-like Skitters; a race of seemingly humanoid grey-skinned beings that seem to be their commanders; and mechanical Attack Drones called mechs) that neutralizes the world's power grid and technology, quickly destroys the combined militaries of all the world's countries, and apparently kills over 90% of the human population within a few days. The invasion and the objectives of the Aliens is not explained, though the aliens try to round up children between 8 and 16 and attach a metallic obedience device onto (and into) their spines. Forcibly removing the device instantly kills the child. The story picks up six months after the invasion and follows a group of survivors who band together to fight back.

 I for one have always been a fan of alien takeover and such,  but I did enjoy every episode in this TNT series. It has been a while a Sci-Fi TV series has caught my attention this much. For those whom did not see the series, and wonder what happens after the aliens do invade earth and how we may resist them.

This series has so many layers (like an onion) in this series. There are so many points of view and different people are affected on the decisions from the upper ranks of the group.

How far whould people last with no electricty? So of the people that I work with 2 minutes:)
For those who did see the series, I am curious on what your thoughts are on the Falling Skies series?

The Hobbit Group Read-a-Long Discussion Part 1

Hello to everyone that has decided to join in the 1st book of the Lord of the Rings Read-a-Long. This is something that have been wanting to tackle in quite some time now. I hope that everyone is enjoying the first 7 chapter of The Hobbit. If you aren’t posting related threads on your blog, no worries, you can post your thoughts in this thread, or anywhere else you’d like.


Below are some questions that I have provided for this week.

1. What were your expectations starting The Hobbit ?(If you never read it before)
(For those who have read the Hobbit) Did you learn something during reading that you missed from the last time you read it?
2. What would have been your thoughts if 13 strangers came in your house and wanted to fed and housed in a moments notice?
3. What has been your favorite part of Bilbo's journey so far?
4. Where do you think the group would be without Gandalf?

Here are my answers for the questions:

1. What were your expectations starting The Hobbit ?(If you never read it before)
(For those who have read the Hobbit) Did you learn something during reading that you missed from the last time you read it?

In my case, I have never read the Hobbit maybe my former high school should fit into its curriculum.It sure is a great read.I have seen the movies, but I did not realize how many reoccurring characters that are in this book to LOTR I also did not know that Bilbo Baggins was practically drug along on this journey.I did expect plenty of adventure throughout this book.

2. What would have been your thoughts if 13 strangers came in your house and wanted to fed and housed in a moments notice?

I know that I am the one that thought up this question. I for one am not that sure what I would do if over a dozen people let alone dwarves that I have never seen before came to my home and expected to entertained and fed. If they did come here and told me that I was to go one a journey with them. I do not think that I could have pulled it off as well as Bilbo did. At least the dwarves did clean up after themselves:).

3. What has been your favorite part of Bilbo's journey so far?



I  must say that the favorite part in the journey thus far is finding the ring after waking up alone by himself. Then last he finds out that the ring belongs to Gollum.Bilbo has discovered that he can become invisible if he does wear it. He has yet to find out the power that it has. I thought that it was funny how Bilbo tricked his way through Gollum's riddle game to not disclose the ring. In turn that he was sure that Bilbo has possession of.  I am sure that Bilbo will be in more tight spot thought the rest of the journey as well. He has as muck as I do sometimes.

4. Where do you think the group would be without Gandalf?

To be honest I think the group would have been goblin stew if it would have been for Gandalf to save them. He leaves them every so often, and by that time the group is in another pickle.If it was not the goblins it was the trolls or the Wargs(wolves). It should be an interesting journey with the group that we have in this group.

I know there is much more excitement to come, especially after the events which closed this first section. I hope you are all enjoying it as well. Little Red Reviewer and I would love to hear what your thought about the book are at the moment.

The Hobbit Breakdown

I am sure most of you have your hands on the copy of the Hobbit by now. I thought that I would list the breakdown of the chapters that we will be discussing each week. There are not books with the books like the Lord of the Rings par say. I have broken down the weeks and how far that we would be discussing for that week.

Week 1-Chapters 1-7
Week2-Chapters 8-13
Week 3- Chapters 14-19

As stated before, both Little Red Review and I will be taking turns hosting the discussion at our blog. I will be starting it off on Saturday August 13th. I hope that everyone enjoys the world of Tolkien especially like me this is the 1st time in his world.

Lord of the Rings Read-A-Long

It has been a while that I have wanted to Lord of the Rings as well as the Hobbit. After failing to read before. during or after the LOTR Trilogy. I have been told and read that it is an absolute work of art. Everyone that I talked say that it is a MUST read before you die. He is the master of high(epic) fantasy.
I have been in contact with a friend of mine,Little Red Reviewer and she agreed to co-host the read a-long together.
In the LOTR, read along here the schedule to start each book:

The Hobbit-August 8

Fellowship of the Ring-September 1

The Two Towers-October 1

Return of the King-November 1

Children of Hurin- December 1

On the Saturday immediately following each section we will each post our thoughts on the book thus far. In order to give some guidance to that discussion each of us will take one week and ask a few questions.

Does this interest you and want to join the Read-a-Long.If so, please leave a comment indicating so and you will be included in the weekly list of questions for each session. You do not have to participate in the discussion to read along with us, yet we would love to hear your thoughts on the book. 

I hope that I can make the trip to Middle Earth with you.