I've loved the Lord of the Rings since I was a kid and have tried reading the Silmarillion several times but have never been able to get through it. It's a very tough read, like reading the Old Testament but without having any familiarity with the stories, characters, names, places, etc. On top of that, so many of the character and place names all sound similar or nearly identical: Ingwe, Olwe, Elwe, Finwe, Feanor, Fingolfin, Finarfin, Fingon, Finrod, etc. It's really hard to keep people straight, which means you try to go back and read paragraphs or pages you already previously read and end up just getting lost. But the pay off is worth it. There's some incredible mythos there and some fantastic stories. The heart of the book really is the story of Beren and Luthien and it almost feels like everything before that is just to set up for that epic.

If you love Middle Earth and have, like me, never been able to get through the Silmarillion, here is my reading recommendation:

1) You can't read this like the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings. It's not a typical novel, so don't try to approach it like that. This isn't a book to listen to on audiobook (at least not for your first time reading). You'll read a paragraph and then have to look up some names or places before you can orient yourself and get back to reading.

2) Read the preface (the Waldman Letter). It introduces major story arcs and important events. You're not reading this for the twists of plot like a typical novel, so it's okay to know what happens in the stories before you actually read the text. There are lots of guides online that offer short synopses of each chapter, these are good too (though I didn't typically use them in my reading).

3) Have first age maps open and available while you read. If you've read LotR, you're familiar with lots of Middle Earth locations--nearly none of which come into play in the Silmarillion (at least the first part of the book). I used a map of Arda, a map of Aman, and a map of Beleriand specifically while I read and had these open on a computer. The map of Beleriand in the book itself is good, but I recommend having the maps up on a screen directly in front of you that you can easily access. It's much easier than constantly flipping back and forth from the text to the map. You will be looking at it a lot, especially at first as you're learning the names of the different places.

4) Have your thumb or bookmark in the glossary of terms at the back of the book the whole time you're reading. You can also find digital versions of the glossary that you can have pulled up on a computer to have it more easily accessible (see comment above about flipping back and forth). As you read, you'll come across a name that you think you've read before but you're not sure. Instead of trying to hunt through previous pages to find it, just go look it up in the glossary. It will usually jog your memory and give you enough info to know who or where it's talking about. This is pretty much not optional if you want to actually get through the book.

5) You will slowly become more familiar with names and locations, especially once the action starts more when the Noldor return to Beleriand. It takes some time but the reading gets easier as you go.

Yes, it's a lot of work, and yes I'm a nerd. But it seriously is so good and very, very worth it. It not only has some incredible stories but it adds so much more depth to the Lord of the Rings to know who these characters are that get mentioned but never are explained in more depth. I highly recommend.