I have a new book. two, actually. We went to Lewisham yesterday as me and Lyn booth needed to get each other gifts for today. We took the bus: I got there first as you can only have one wheelchair on a bus at a time. The funny thing is, by the time Lyn and kasia caught up with me, I’d already bought my gift for Lyn. This left me free time, as I couldn’t follow Lyn around, for obvious reasons.

I popped into the Works. I don’t usually like the works as they sell coffee-table, populist books rather than the more discursive, academic texts one might find in other book stores. However, yesterday I was in luck: I stumbled upon a Readers’ Guide to JRR Tolkien – two thick volumes in a box. £70 knocked down to a tenner – a bargain.

It’s been a while since I considered Tolkien. As I have aged, I suppose I’ve followed the academic herds in dismissing his works as simplistic fairy tails. At the same time, I find the concept that there are far-right wing political themes in Tolkien unsettling, largely because I can see their point. However, yesterday I decided I would give Tolkien another chance; I’d like to investigate the arguments and discussions around him; to look at him with the same mentality I acquired at university. After we got in last night I had a cursory glance online for papers about Tolkien and politics, and I wasn’t disappointed: writers are now reassessing Tolkien, defending him from accusations of parochialism, anti-urbanism, and so on. To be honest, I have missed such debates. Yesterday’s trip, it seems, was quite fruitful.