NOVEMBER: The Hobbit by J. R. R Tolkien

[Paula]

I haven't read The Hobbit since I was in my early twenties. This book made me laugh out loud. I bought a copy a couple of years ago, so I'm going to read it and refresh my memory.

[Leigh]

The Hobbit was the first Tolkien book I read. After that I devoured the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Amazing books and brilliant literature and a cracking good story to boot.

[Annette]

Leigh wrote: "The Hobbit was the first Tolkien book I read. After that I devoured the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Amazing books and brilliant literature and a cracking good story to boot."

The Hobbit was also my first introduction to Tolkien although I confess I 'heard' it first. There is a TV programme in the UK called Jackonary where actors read stories for children. One summer, many years ago, they did a summer holiday special of The Hobbit read by a cast of English theatre greats. (I think Derek Jacobi read Bilbo.) I was hooked and had to quickly buy a copy of the book to read to myself.

[[deleted user]]

Me too. I give credit to The Hobbit getting me into reading in the first place. I have read the book twice and listened to it on tape once. Yes, tape, back before mp3s and what not. Anyways, what a great story for adventure. The reluctant and unlikely hero. The supporting characters. The world Tolkein imagined. I am reading other books at the moment, but might just have to read this one again. For anyone who has never read The Hobbit, go get it and read it, you won't be sorry. Unlike The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit is a quick read but with all the spectacular prose that Tolkein is known for. Enjoy, will check back later.

[Kathleen]

I've read The Hobbit twice, and listened to it on full-cast audio with sound effects. This is one of my all-time favorite books, and I've gotten all 4 of my children hooked on it too. There was at one time a gorgeous graphic novel of it in full color. I brought it to work with me when I was teaching in jail, and it was stolen by an inmate. I don't know if it's still in print, but I would love to get another copy for my book collection. I hope they do the movie to go with the LOTR series.

[Ashley]

I enjoyed reading The Hobbit, a whole lot more than I thought I would. I read it when I still believed that all fantasy was boring and beneath me. ;)

I was pretty set in what I was willing to read, (and watch) and it took a lot to convince me to read these books. I read it after watching the first movie (which I loved- surprise!) and I was thrilled by how much I enjoyed reading it. I read the first two LOTR books, but kept misplacing the third before I ever really got into it, so I set it aside for a while. I'll go back and reread the whole set again eventually...

But, I did very much enjoy reading The Hobbit. Maybe I'll push these higher up my TBR...

[Usako]

The Hobbit is a good bedtime read for children. Something to share like in Princess Bride the movie.

Bilbo's adventure is so captivating. I LOVED the part with the dragon :)

[Angelena]

This is my first time reading The Hobbit. I have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I always meant to read The Hobbit but I never got around to it. So this was the perfect opportunity to read it. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and I love it so far. It's slow going but I still love it. Like the Lord of the Rings, I have found that I actually have to really sit down and read this. And I need to read it in a quiet place so that I can concentrate. But that's what the quiet floor of my college library is for! :)

[Stuart]

I have read both LOTR and The Hobbit and enjoyed both. I will reread them just not sure when...

[Eden]

I read The Hobbit earlier this year for the first time. It was a really, really great book. I enjoyed reading it.

[Esther]

My Mum read this to me when I was quite small. She does an absolutely fabulous Gollum!

Later we had to read it for school but I didn't really enjoy it and didn't finish it.
In my 20s I had no money for books so I read what was on my shelves and enjoyed it enough that I started Lord of the Rings. I didn't finish that though - Tolkien was a bit too detailed for my taste then. I should try it again.

[Cheryl]

I have to say The Hobbit is one of my favorite books. I read it when I found out LOTR was coming out in the movies and wanted to see what the big deal was. I read the whole series but it got harder the more I read. I would love to reread The Hobbit in the near future because it is such a wonderful and colorful story.

[Phoebe]

I read this last year around this time for a course in children's literature and I know we shouldn't really quibble over categorisation, but really I feel that while the book isn't lacking in morality or fable-like significance, there is a nagging feeling that it just doesn't have enough depth or that meticulousness of character development one often sees in other stand-alone novels for young adults.

The structure and plot can easily be compared to other children's books that use the journey pattern like The Wizard of Oz and the Alice books. Then again one can argue that Alice doesn't really travel physically, she simply dreams.

Oh. Another thing. I'm not claiming that this book shouldn't be seen as a YA novel or that teenagers will find this boring. I'm simply saying that personally I would see this as more of a book for children. Then again, there's the violence. Maybe for another discussion at another time.

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse]

SUCH a good book! One of my favourites, this is another novel I am looking forward to discovering with my children. I find it so imaginative, and wonderfully detailed.