what books to read?

[the guy who be short]

aiya atani,
i have read the hobbit, lotr, silmarillion and am reading the histories of middle earth. what shall i read next? please make a list

[HCIsland]

This is just me, but I really enjoy much of the stuff in Unfinished Tales.

H.C.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Here's the Book List (http://www.barrowdowns.com/BookList.asp?Size=) on the main site.

[The Saucepan Man]

I'm reading the Unfinished Tales at the moment, having just finished the Silmarillion, and would strongly recommend it. smilies/smile.gif

[zifnab]

I will take it one step further from The Saucepan Man's recommendation of reading UT by saying it is an essential, even border line fundamentaly part of the process. I would stop reading HOME and focus on UT.

[Inderjit Sanghera]

If you want to read HoME with the Silmarillion or U.T then read volumes 10-12.

[Legolas]

Recommended reading order:

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Letters of JRR Tolkien, HoME 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 3, and 6-9.

[ February 28, 2003: Message edited by: Legolas ]

[Guinevere]

I would also recommend reading "Tree and Leaf" which contains Tolkiens famous essay "On Fairy-stories" and "Leaf by Niggle" .
Tolkien wrote this when he was in the beginning of composing LotR, and it is very interesting and touching.

[lathspell]

I just bought the letters of J.R.R. Tolkien... you might wanna read them as well.

[The Saucepan Man]

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Letters of JRR Tolkien, HoME 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 3, and 6-9.

I have never seen JRRT's letters in any of the book-shops that I have been to (including, recently, Foyles and the other mega-book stores on Charing Cross Road), so I was planning on delving into some of the HoME after the Unfinished Tales. I was just interested to know, Legolas, why you recommend reading the letters first?