My Tolkien Project Summer 2026

As you might already know, I teach part-time during the school year. That means that my summer schedule looks a bit different, and every summer, I try to do some sort of self-directed professional development. I’ve done courses through Coursera (one of my favorites was Organising an Empire: The Assyrian Way), as well as other online courses. This summer, I’ve decided to do a self-directed journey through some of JRR Tolkien’s works and works about him that I haven’t read yet.

Beyond the books pictured below, I am also reading The Fall of Gondolin and The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth by Ruth Noel. I will also listen to various podcast episodes, and I have some assignments and projects that I’ve designed for myself. I’ll be sharing occasional tidbits in my newsletter, if you want to follow along. I may, down the road, turn this into a more fleshed out blog series, but I don’t have concrete plans for that yet.

 
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Coming August 4: Elements of Life, A Collection of Poetry. This collection explores the intersection of atomic precision and the infinite soul, weaving the rigid structure of the elements into the fluid tapestry of human experience. Through these verses, the fundamental laws of science become a new liturgy for understanding the quiet miracles of daily existence.

Grace Upon Grace (31-Day Devotional).

Growing in Love: What Does It Look Like to Follow Jesus? An Exploration of the Letter of 1 John
Melanchthon’s German Catechism translated into English.
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