My goal this year is to read all 12 volumes of the history of middle earth. Also, like, other stuff. It's ALSO fascinating to me to see both JRRT's evolution in thought and Christopher's work to mediate and manage his father's ideas and legacy.
It's jsut super interesting. I'm not sure it's super interesting to people who are not very Tolkien-y but also seeing the ways that it *feels* more like mythology in these earlier stories is so cool. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it, but the way that he tells stories of tragedy and lament and...i don't know what it IS about this mode that grabs me but, well, if you're the kind of kid who read mythology anthologies cover to cover, do I have a book for you.