Solstice

In celebration of the extra-long sunshine, I'm finally reading The Children of Hurin today. I bought it through an Alibris seller back in May, but they "lost" my shipment. I snagged it off the new release shelf at the library, and I figured this was the perfect day to get in touch with my pseudo-pagan literary roots.
(I realize that the solstice is usually celebrated on the 21st, but the longer day is usually the 22nd. At least, that's what my Astronomy textbook said. I was looking for a Gawain story to read, but my to-read list is already longer than it should be...)

It's been a looong time since I've read the Silmarillion, which is a good thing, because everything in this "new" book is pulled almost verbatim from there and the Lost Tales. I don't mind, though, because Turin (the Master of Doom) was always one of my favorite characters, and this way I get a condensed introduction and less "editorial intrusion" so the reading is much quicker.
The downside, of course, is that I just want to go read the Silmarillion again. You can't reduce Fingolfin's battle with Morgoth to a one-sentence introductory note; it's already too short in Tolkien's fullest version. He should have written a song about that one hammer-blow, and another song about the death of the king.

Anyway, this more than makes up for Bridge to Terabithia.