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I started The Lord of the Rings today. Thankfully, we have a copy with all three books in one volume. It is 1008 pages including the prologue, but not the multiple appendixes. I am skipping both the prologue (20 pages) and the appendixes. I’m going at this as I would if I were reading it for any other reason, and I don’t do appendixes.

Before you judge me: I just paged through the prologue. It gives a history of hobbits and a summary of the book, The Hobbit. I'm officially not missing anything.

I admit a mild thread of panic when I went to check the number of pages and found myself in the index. An index! For a fiction book.  Oh man!

So far I’m about five minutes into the first movie. I’m already grateful that I’ve seen all three movies. It helps to have an idea of where this is going or I would be worried right now that it isn’t going anywhere.

Those of you who would like to read along, please post comments on your thoughts and progress. I will do the same. And I read slow. Continue not judging me.

Despite being daunted by the sheer girth of my first read, I’m excited to be underway. Reading is never a waste of time—even if you hate what you’re reading, you are reacting to it, which I guess is what makes it art. Let’s cross our fingers that most of it is good art.