Question about 1001 books

I'm rethinking my 1001 book selections - I'm actually trying to pull them from books on my actual shelves (rather than buy or borrow).
Anyway, here's my dilemma. What to do about The Lord of the Rings books? It's listed as just one selection, but to my mind it's three books. Would you consider it three separate books or as one single entry? I guess if you counted it as 3 separate books, then there would be 1003 books to read before you die, so that's not right. Hmmm, maybe I just answered my question, then. Still, what would you do?

There are several books on the 1001 list that are made up of several volumes. On the list they count as one book, so on my personal "books from the 1001 list that I've read" list I'd count all three as one.

On any other list, however, I'd count each one individually. After all, they are all each individual books. I want the credit! My charting might look like this:

Books from the 1001 list:
1. Lord of the Rings

Books I read in February:
1. The Return of the King

Books I read in March:
1. The Two Towers
2. Fellowship of the Ring

(I thought I'd show them in reverse order just for fun)

Good thing I'm staying away from any of these books for my 888 challenge --they are too confusing. I am, however, thinking of doing A Dance to the Music of Time in 2009 and it's made up of four books, each which is over 700 pages.

One of my books is really just volume one of a four volume work. However, it was long enough and involved enough that I counted it as one of my books. So, for this challenge, count The Lord of the Rings as three books.

I have to agree with the second poster: The Lord of the Rings should only count as a single entry, although for different reasons than stated. Were the connection between the three books merely thematic or serial, then you would be well advised to count each book seperately. However, considering The Lord of the Rings is a single story devided into three major volumes, I think it only appropriate to count it as a single entry. It's not really a trilogy in the truest sense although I wouldn't want to confront fans on that point.

Thank you all for your input. I'm thinking perhaps I'd do better to leave it off this challenge. I'm feeling like it'd sort of be cheating to count each one separately, but it's kind of daunting thinking of reading the entire set as one of my selections - especially since I had a hard time getting through The Hobbit. Ah well, I'll get to them eventually.
Thanks again!

I would have made the same decision as you, Virginia. If it's on the 1001 list as one book, and you're including it on your personal 1001 list, there really is no other option, period. It's a definitive list and we can't change it. However, that's a lot of reading not to get "credit" for. I'm with you--pick something else.

If I were reading it, I wouldn't add it to my '1001 books' and just say I read the two towers because I wouldn't read the third one straight afterwards. I'd put it into a different section. Not sure which one though..