Greetings – Quickbeam here.

It’s not officially autumn until you’ve stuck your nose in a book. So open up Green Books and enjoy our new features. You’ll find all this more:

• Time to vote for a new President... will it be Gandalf or Saruman? Go Out on a Limb with me for a satirical look at American politics, Tolkien style.
• You ask, we tell. We have new Questions & Answers:

1. Why is 13 an unlucky number in Middle-earth?
2. How did Gandalf conceal Narya?
3. What’s the origin of the word "Gollum"?
4. Why did Aragorn dismiss the Army of the Dead?

All these and more can be found here.

• The remarkable Terry Pratchett (Discworld, Good Omens) pays Tribute to the wonder of Tolkien.
• Laugh out loud at our new song parodies over at Moon Letters! And of course there’s essays... and poetry... and fiction...
• Look for new updates in red to previous Q&A articles.

Next month we provide a special Hallowe’en edition of Green Books that’s going to be full of surprises (and ghosts). Join us as we explore the WORDS and WORLD of Tolkien.

Much too hasty,

Quickbeam