Reading LOTR With Friends

Starting a small community to journey through LOTR

It’s no secret that The Lord of the Rings has easily become my favorite story! I’ve read through it three times now over the last six years, each each time being unique and fresh in its own way. The experience changes partly because of the massive terrain that Tolkien covers with the story. Every reread makes me feel like an archaeologist uncovering new treasures buried deep within the strata of his myth. It also seems to take new shape because of the distinct and changing seasons I find myself in. It only makes sense that as I change as a person, the things I read and take in tend to land with different weight and sharpness.

The conclusion? Every reread has only brought out more beauty, truth and wonder.

Ever since I finished the last read, I’ve been planning to dive back into it, this time with a pen and highlighter in hand. I want to be intentional in noticing things I’ve never noticed and slowly lingering over things that pierce my heart and stop me in my tracks. But I’ve recently thought of another wrinkle to this. I think it would double my joy and wonder if I did this next read through with a small community of friends...

The Idea: A Fellowship

What I am not imagining is a rigid book club with deadlines and pressure to keep pace. More like a slow journey through Middle-earth for people who have busy lives and yet still want to make time to enjoy a good story. Some months we may move quickly, some slowly. The point isn’t speed, but attentiveness to the things that stand out, hit home, and make you think. And the beauty wouldn’t be in just reading these things alone, but in sharing what we are seeing and discovering together, adding to the richness of the whole journey.

To keep the community small and focused, I’m thinking of opening up a simple $5/month tier that would include a monthly reflection/article and a subscriber chat where we can share passages, discoveries, questions, and moments of wonder as we journey through the story together.

At this point, I’m mostly just trying to gauge interest and see if others would genuinely enjoy something like this. So if this sounds life-giving to you, let me know below in the comments or become a paid subscriber. If there’s a small group of folks willing to journey through Middle-earth together, I’ll put together the group for those who subscribe and we’ll kick things off in June.

PS, here is the LOTR edition I will be using to read-through. This set is my favorite.

---