OMG there is someone else in the world who doesn't like LOTR. I'm not alone any more! I've never even been tempted to watch the movies (which ppl alternatively tell me I'm missing out on because they are so like the books, and then when i say I didn't like the book, they tell me they are completely different to the books, so much better...LOL) I endure family shame by never having viewed them as my nephew worked on the graphics in them....

I do like HP, however I believe the first book you have to read as an 11 year old. After that the intended audience gets older and the books get better.

I agree with your comments above about literature. I spent a lot of time at uni wondering why being incomprehensible made a book a supposed great read, or why exactly we had to work so hard to read 'good' literature, when there was so much stuff out there that filled me with joy to read, and I didn't need to ponder the positioning of every word.