I finished The Fellowship of the Ring (thanks Simon!) on the train. I tried to read The Lord of the Ring when I was a kid but failed, and still had "issues" with all the dull padding in the first book (I skipped through most of the songs, not knowing the tunes). I've been told the trilogy (it's not actually a trilogy - yawn) is really good as a whole, so thought I'd give it a go while I have the time. I enjoyed the first book (first two books actually - yawn) and it really made me appreciate what a fine adaptation the first movie was. Peter Jackson et al did a great job of removing the dead-wood and keeping the essence of the book. Perhaps a novelisation based on the screenplay would be a better read? (That is a joke.)
I've just started Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. So far it's a good read, though some of the "revelations" are hardly shocking to anyone who understands that advertising's purpose is to make people buy products, rather than to perform a public service. Schlosser seems to think it sinister that McDonalds and co "target" unsuspecting customers. A minor quibble though - other, proper revelations are genuinely disturbing. I'm looking forward to the rest of the book.