Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Oh, Tolkien. We almost have the same initials, but sometimes I just don't understand you. My husband and I loved reading The Lord of the Rings aloud it took a really long time (months actually), but reading aloud made me appreciate Tolkien's descriptions, imagery, and length a lot more.

I was excited to read this book just to get more Tolkien, but I wish it didn't sound like the chronicles of history in the Bible! I love the Bible, but long history just wasn't what I was looking for in a novel. We stuck it out to the end though. After the lengthy background, the pace picked up a bit, but the book never lost the history feel.

I can't help but thinking that Tolkien spent over twelve years writing and revising The Lord of the Rings for a reason. I wonder if this book, compiled by Christopher Tolkien, is missing Tolkien's arduous revision process?

The good news was that Children of Hurin was super short compared to The Lord of the Rings. I was never very engaged with the characters as Turin is just grumpy the whole time, but he did pull out a pretty cool plot twist, even if it was kind of weird.

Overall, the thing about Tolkien is at least one every chapter he says something really amazing about human nature. Those are the gems that keep me reading on for more!