This is an incredible and in my experience an entirely unique collection. I imagine this is as close as anyone today can get to actually knowing professor Tolkien and shows the man as wholly as any printed material can.

As someone who hopes to be an author, this book is at once deeply inspiring, aspirational, and incredibly relatable. I feel sure I will return to it again and again.

Understanding a writer’s life by his letters, brilliant. Very special, glimpses of insight into the life of a university professor, during a particular period in history. His difficulties and frustrations, his likes and loves. Some truly lovely passages of writing too. I really, really enjoyed reading this. Highly recommend.

Reading large chunks at a time means a lot of repetition, but apart from that this was a fantastic collection. It's a fascinating look at his own thoughts around his writing, and there are some poignant passages about his faith. I will never not tear up at his letter to Christopher (his son), several months after his wife's death.

"But the story has gone crooked, & I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos."

This was delightful. It provides a lot of cool information and explanations about Hobbit, LOTR, and Silmarillion that might be around elsewhere but it was nice having it in one place.

There was some information that got repeated, but it was interesting to see how Tolkien explained the same thing to different people, and what (if anything) changed in his explanations over the years.

This collection humanizes Tolkien (who obviously we know was human) and shows faults and graces in equal measure, ensuring a good portrait of the great creator.