And I'll put the nail in my coffin by saying that, unlike everyone else in the HP fandom, that I utterly despise and can't even begin to read anything by Tolkien. He's just so leaden, pompous, and utterly boring

I adored The Hobbit, and am already looking forward to reading it to the kidlet. I read the Trilogy in junior high, and I remember enjoying it, but I've never felt any great desire to re-read it.

And my poor parents, knowing only that I loved fantasy novels (which neither of them likes), gamely bought me the hardcover of The Silmarillion when I was in high school, and for months I repeated the same pattern: Read one and a half chapters, bog down, wander away to read something interesting, go back and pick up the book again, read one and a half chapters ...

Has anyone finished that book?