Bethberry, it's late and I'm groggy, but I'll try to answer (morning edits may follow.)
I am assuming that this thread will be of interest to novices who have finished the Hobbit and the Trilogy, an are wondering what to read next.
When I was younger I devoured whatever I could get my hands on that had "Tolkien" in the title. There is much more available now, and not all of it would encourage a novice to further persue Tolkien studies. That was the thought behind this:
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My intent is to provide Novice Tolkien Enthusiasts (and potential Tolkien scholars) with recommendations for further reading outside the Legendarium itself.
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I did say, "outside the legendarium itself."
By and large, experienced readers don't need this thread; most experienced Tolkien enthusiasts can eventually find what we need to find using google, amazon, and a few decent scholarly sites including this one.
But I did not start this thread to make research easier for experts. I started this thread hoping to offer motivated novices (*potential* Tolkien scholars) hope and courage and guidance enough to dive in and get started.
If the experts also benefit from the thread so much the better.
Perhaps I should say it like this: My aim was that this thread be a doorway for novice Tolkien enthusiasts into the books forum and into Tolkien studies in general.
Partly it was inspired by "After the movies, what then?" Someday I'd love to hear from a MarysueNazgirlLeggybopper that she took her first step on the road to a PhD as a result of a thread like this. (Thirty years ago, that fangirl was me.)
<font size=1 color=339966>[ 11:45 PM January 06, 2004: Message edited by: mark12_30 ]