Sun, Feb 22 · 1:30 PM PST
### 🧙‍♂️📖 Could you carry the Ring… or would it carry you? - Lord of the Rings year-long reading (Kickoff)
Short summary Lord of the Rings reading arc - slow enough to actually enjoy it, serious enough to make it worth doing.
Reading for the kickoff meetup :
The Fellowship of the Ring - Book I, Chapters 1–3 A Long-Expected Party , The Shadow of the Past , Three Is Company .)Book + chapter titles so every edition matches cleanly.
What we’ll explore :
Is the Shire real peace… or sheltered denial? What’s charming here, and what’s fragile?The Ring as a thing that “wants” you: do you read it like addiction, temptation, trauma, power, or something spiritual?Frodo’s first step: does he feel like a hero… or like a person being pushed by history?Gandalf - mentor or manipulator? Is he protecting Frodo, or using him because someone has to do it?Comfort vs duty: if your life is good and small, what could possibly justify leaving it?Modern question: what’s the “Ring” people carry now - status, ambition, outrage, attention, money - and what does it do to them?
How we’ll do it
Quick hello + one-minute round: “What mood did the Shire give you?”
A short map of Tolkien’s structure (so the big book feels manageable)
Discussion anchored to key moments in Chapters 1–3
Open floor, guided (so it stays sharp, not chaotic)
At the end: we agree on next month’s chapters together
The year-long plan (simple + flexible) one meetup per month . Roughly:
Feb: Fellowship (Book I)Mar–Apr: Fellowship (Book II)May–Jun: Two Towers (Book III)Jul–Aug: Two Towers (Book IV)Sep–Oct: Return of the King (Book V)Nov–Dec: Return of the King (Book VI) + optional “Appendices night” if people want
(Exact chapter chunks will be posted each meetup so no one gets confused.)
When and where
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2026Time: 1:30PM - 3:30PMLocation: Central Library - Meeting Rooms - L4 North
Cap 12–15
