I've been a Tolkien fan for years. I first read LotR, Hobbit and Silmarillion in the 70's and since then have read them many times over. I have also enjoyed the History of Middle-earth series, Unfinished Tales and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. My favorite of the bunch is the Silmarillion. It explains so much and sets the groundwork for the other stories. One of my other favorite bits is The Notion Club Papers from Sauron Defeated (HoMe vol. 9). I love the idea of a real connection between modern day and Middle-earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notion_Club_Papers
I've read through some of the threads here and enjoyed the balanced (not too gushy) and knowledgeable comments. I do not profess to be anywhere near as 'up' on Tolkien, but I'd like somewhere to participate in a Tolkien discussion.
Tolkien was my introduction to Fantasy books, of which I am a dedicated reader. I also enjoy some mystery and SF books. For those of you on Goodreads, my user name is
elvet. I like to play PC adventure games (like Myst and Riven) and have quite a collection from the 1990s-2000s. They are currently out of favor, so I don't play as much as I used to.