A lot of people are jumping on the reading bandwagon. A good number of those on my blogroll and LJ friends list are participating in some kind of official or unofficial reading challenge. In fact, I thought about joining the 50bookchallenge on LJ, but there is no way I’ll be able to get even close to that many books in since I’m taking a class this semester plus hopefully getting a part-time job. The summer will be too busy to read much (although I will get a few books in!), and I’m hoping to be a full-time student in the Fall. I’ll be lucky to get through the dozen or so books I have waiting, let alone any new ones. And there is no way I can count textbooks in a reading list–they aren’t ‘real’ reading as far as I’m concerned.

This on-line course will examine Tolkien’s awareness of northern European mythologies and languages as well as other aspects of his scholarly background, such as anthropology and archaeology. We shall also explore how he used these creatively in his fiction, mainly The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

Now this is a course I could really get into!! Its too bad I can’t afford it, nor will I have the time this semester with a second job (if I can get one) and taking a course already. Ah well, maybe they will offer it again sometime, or maybe I can find a school in the US, if not MA that offers a similar course online (I know some schools do offer Tolkein classes, but I havne’t found any online)