Books finished during July's radio silence

I FINALLY finished listening to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy!!!!!!  I borrowed the CDs off Luc years and years ago.  I struggled to listen to it in Sydney - I know I was listening when I first met Stu, because I remember on occasion talking to Stu at night, then putting it on to listen to before I went to sleep.  Of course I'd struggle to stay awake listening to it.  I tried listening to it in the car on a long drive one time - very dangerous thing to do as it's so boring I nearly fell asleep at the wheel.  Last year when I started catching a different bus and walking twenty minutes home, I finally was able to get through it.

So yeah.  Most boring thing, just about *ever*.  Maybe it was because I was listening and not reading, but I just couldn't get interested in the story or the characters.  I think Frodo and Sam's story was the only one that was even vaguely interesting to me.  Half the other characters I couldn't even remember who was who most of the time.

Yeah.

<dons flame-proof suit as I'm sure the zealots out there will want to attack me for that>

The other series I finished was the Mallorean by David Eddings.  Now *that* is a series that holds my interest!  Have read the Belgariad and Mallorean through twice now.  All these years I've called it the MAL-or-EE-an, probably because that's how Sami said it when he introduced it to me.  But in July when we were in Queensland Chay called it the Mal-OR-ean, which sounded completely bizarre to me.  David and Stu also thought it should be Mal-OR-ean.  I wonder how David Eddings pronounced it :)