The very first time I started this book, at 12 years old, a few years before the movies were released, I couldn't get through it. It is now my favorite book of the trilogy and I re-read it in September for the fifth or sixth time. I love how the wider world, hinted at in the Fellowship, opens up in this story- seeing Rohan, seeing Gondon, seeing Ithilien, the kingdoms of men- adds a huge new dimension to Middle Earth. Where the Fellowship starts slow, this book is a race from start to finish. Even though I know exactly what happens, the tension of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimili's chase after the orcs in the fields of Rohan is palpable. The twist and turns that bring Pippin to pledge his sword to Denathor and Merry to Theoden feel as natural and inevitable as they are wild beyond any Shire hobbit's dreams. The death of Theoden is, for me, the most heartbreaking passage in the whole series, and the one part that I have cried over every time. This will not be the last time I read this book.