Two books have come out recently that are excellent complements to delving into the great series of books written by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, belovedthe world over as the creator of Middle-earth.
When the first crop of John's beloved hillside vineyard ripened in 1978, they couldn't find a picking crew and the grapes hung for three or four days beyond what they judged to be optimal ripeness a delay that would eventually prove to be a blessing, though they didn't know it at the time.
Steve Turner's book Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song tells the story of composer John Newton's conversion from slave trader to abolitionist, and traces the evolution of the song from its composition in 1772 as a hymn with no set tune to the version familiar today.