The final volume of one of my favourites ever, though I've only read most of the appendices once and never will again (the calendar and writing/spelling sections are the cure for insomnia if ever there was one).

Beautifully written, with lots of lovely sections - Eowyn and the Witch-King, the ride of the Rohirrim, the Houses of Healing. I think it's my favourite part of LOTR, mostly because of the writing but also because underneath it all it's just so sad. The good guys win, but winning is insufficient - the Elves still leave, Arwen is still permanently separated from her family, Lothlorien fades and Frodo never heals. Everything they all give up and it's still not enough. Yet it's still a fundamentally hopeful story, and I get something new out of it every time I read it. Can't really ask for more than that.