Luke > Recent Status Updates

This chapter was mainly about the celebrity fans that went to the garden, and the Knicks fervor that united the city as the team marched their way to a championship. It reminds me a lot of how it feels now on this magical playoff run. I’ve got goosebumps. Also, Araton interviewed Woody Allen for this, that definitely hasn’t aged well. Glad that freak isn’t going to games anymore.

This chapter was mainly about Dick Barnett, the oft-overlooked starting guard on the 1970 championship team. This book is almost 15 years old, so at the time Araton was questioning why a player as accomplished as Barnett was not in the hall of fame. But he was finally inducted a few years ago, and I remember Clyde Frazier breaking the news in the middle of a Knicks broadcast right before it was made public.

The first section of the book talks about the origins of the key players on the ‘70 Knicks, and I’ve already learned so much about Clyde, Willis, and the rest. Araton is frequently present in the stories and he fills each page with so much information. He also talks a lot about the political environment of the late 60s and its impact on the NBA, which I find fascinating, especially compared to the modern day.

I have to quickly put the other books I’m reading on a mini hiatus, because the Knicks are going to the NBA finals for the first time since I was 2.5 years old, and it’s all I can think about, so I decided to start reading this. It’s about the 70s Knicks, the only period in which the franchise ever won it all (hopefully that changes in the next couple weeks), and the first two chapters were great. Go Knicks!!!

Read a full chapter for the first time in weeks. This book is so good. Let’s go Knicks.

Now that I have a full week before the next Knicks game, I think it’s finally time to get my brain into reading mode again. Especially because this book is so good that every time I read a few pages I think to myself “damn, I wish I was still reading as frequently as I was back in February and March”. The goal is to finish this by the end of the month (I will fail this goal).

I’m not giving up on my other book and will probably keep reading that one more frequently, but I needed to start this to help my Reader’s Block. Rob Cesternino is my favorite survivor player of all time and I have loved his podcast for so many years, so I was very excited when I heard he wrote a book. It’s a shame I couldn’t meet him and get it signed, but I’m enjoying it a lot so far.

The human brain is an enigma. Like a month ago, reading 20 pages felt like such a small, quick task. Now, it feels much more arduous and like it takes twice as long. This book rocks btw.

Slowly getting back to my quicker reading pace. This book is getting so goddamn good, and the story just keeps building all of these different layers. Williams reintroduces characters from earlier that I completely forgot about but they’re clearly very important, and the world is so expansive that I’m still having a little trouble keeping track of all the geography and sub-cultures. I am excited to read more.

I can feel my brain finally starting to normalize and get back in the reading mood again. In this chapter Simon (the protagonist) met a Funny Little Guy in the woods, so I know that means it’s about to get even better. Hopefully I return to my pre-Boston reading pace soon, but sleeping earlier definitely makes that tough.

So I have barely been reading ever since I got back from my trip to Boston, but I gotta get back in the reading mindset cause this book is getting so damn good. I hate his my brain just decides to do this sometimes. I need to lock in.

This is slowly but surely building up to something. Or to many things. It seems like Tad (what a cool name Tad is) is planting the seeds of a million different threads and I can’t wait to see where they all lead. A lot of places I haven’t got the hang of and names I don’t know how to pronounce, but I’m having a great time.

I’ve wanted to read this fantasy series for a few years, so I figured now was the time to get into it after I finished my Tolkien deep dive. Apparently these books were a big inspiration on George R.R. Martin’s song of ice and fire, and I know very little about the story. It starts at a slow pace, which I expected and don’t mind, and the world and characters have been set up very well. I’m excited to read on

I’m thinking that reading this so soon after The Silmarillion may have been a mistake, because there are a few chapters that are struggling to hold my attention. But on the other hand, if I waited a while to read it, all of the names and places would be way more confusing. Regardless, I think I’m moving on from Tolkien (for now) after this. Still a great story but my headspace has shifted unfortunately.

So far it’s cool to see this story expanded upon the version found in The Silmarillion because there’s more depth to the characters, but I’m not sure yet if it really feels necessary. It’s too bad Tolkien never finished the novel-length version of Beren and Luthien, because that story is incredible. This one is great too, but it’s so much more depressing than anything else that Tolkien wrote.

So this is an expanded version of one of the longest and best stories found in The Silmarillion, so I already know everything that’s going to happen, but I’m excited to get more depth to the characters. Aside from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, this is the only other fully completed novel in Tolkien’s Legendarium, so it definitely seems like a must-read to me.

Well I finished reading all of the poems. Now there’s over 100 pages of Commentary, which I believe is just a bunch of information about how Tolkien came to write each poem, so I will probably just skim through it all.

While reading Lord of the Rings, I came to love the oft-derided poems that Tolkien throws in every now and again, and I also came to love the even more oft-derided character of Tom Bombadil, so I decided to read this book of poetry (Tom is sadly only in the first two poems). But I also learned some interesting information. Tom was based on a toy, and he, Goldberry, and the Barrow-wight all existed long before LOTR.

So, marking this on Goodreads is kind of just me shamelessly stat-padding my reading challenge count, because it’s basically just a children’s book. It’s a Poem about Bilbo’s journey to the Grey Havens with a bunch of nice illustrations. But I don’t care, I’m logging it and I consider it part of Tolkien’s Legendarium in its own way!

I’m technically finished with The Silmarillion proper, all I have left is an epilogue of sorts that sums up the Third Age of Middle-Earth and the events of Lord of the Rings. This book is challenging at times for sure, but I’ve enjoyed the whole thing. I have never been so interested in a fictional world’s mythology and lore. But Tolkien was in a class of his own, there will never be anyone like him again.

This chapter was the story of Turin Turambar, which was expanded into the book Children of Hurin. This is definitely the most depressing story in The Silmarillion so far, it’s almost like a Greek tragedy. It even reminds me of Oldboy. I unfortunately knew the ending before I read, but I don’t think that being spoiled really ruins things when it comes to Tolkien.

Holy shit, the story of Beren and Luthien is incredible. I think it’s worth reading this book just for that chapter alone. How the hell has nobody made it into a movie yet? Huan the hound is one of my new favorite Tolkien characters, and if I ever get my own dog in the future, it’ll be hard not to name it after him. I now understand Aragorn and Arwen’s relationship a lot better as well.

This is so unlike any other book I’ve ever read, but it’s so awesome. It’s basically like reading a history book of Middle-earth, except the stories are being told as legends and myths so there’s an epic feel to the words. The next chapter is the story of Beren and Luthien, which is one of Tolkien’s most famous and most personal tales, so I’m excited to read it.

Man, Galadriel had been through so much by the time she met Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship. Being immortal is crazy. Also, I wonder if Valinor ever gets overpopulated. Like what if there are too many elves in Middle Earth and they all wanna cross back over the sea? How big is this place? The geography of Tolkien’s world is hard to follow, someone’s gotta make a Silmarillion movie trilogy to help me out here

Ok, this isn’t as hard to read as everyone says it is. Sure, it’s got a lot of names and places, but the stories themselves are not too hard to follow, and there’s a helpful glossary at the back. Everything has a cosmic, biblical, mythic quality to it that I’m really loving. I can’t get over how brilliant Tolkien’s mind was, how the hell did he come up with all of this stuff? I can feel my brain growing.

I decided to read this next instead of Children of Hurin. For years and years, I’ve heard that The Silmarillion is an extremely challenging, almost biblical read. But I’m so obsessed with Tolkien right now that I just need to read more about Morgoth and the First Age. And so far, I’m thankfully not having much trouble following along as he writes about the creation of the world by Illuvatar (God, basically).

Finished the first (and longest) Appendix. It was pretty interesting learning about the history of all the kings of Numenor, but I didn’t retain most of it. I’m definitely more interested in the next couple of appendices.

Well, I’ve finished the actual book. All that’s left now is the Appendices, which I will try to read but I may skim some parts. The Scouring of the Shire was a great chapter and it’s a shame that Peter Jackson left it out of the movies, though I understand why. The ending made me very sad. The friendship between Sam and Frodo is one of the best I’ve encountered in any book, so it hurts to read their goodbyes.

Unbelievable. Sam and Frodo made it all the way to Mt. Doom and they didn’t even have to use the bathroom once. I totally understand why Peter Jackson moved the Shelob stuff from Two Towers into the third movie, because otherwise Frodo and Sam would have nothing to do but walk across Mordor for the first half of the film. I’m excited for the Scouring of the Shire, I don’t know what to expect from it!

Normally when I read fantasy books, the battle scenes tend to bore me. But these chapters about the siege of Minas Tirith and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields were absolutely unbelievable. Tolkiens mystical language elevates action into something more profound and engaging, and the moment where Eowyn faces off against the King of the Nazgûl brought real tears to my eyes. Wish I could call out of work to read more.