The Hobbit

This book is strong and well hearted.

A tale of adventure, treasure, a talking dragon with a funny name, dwarven companions and discovering courage during trying circumstances, The Hobbit is a story that kids, teens and adults have been enjoying for
going on a century. It's the story of a small, fussy little hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who loves his cozy home in the Shire, where no one goes on any adventures or does anything very daring or dangerous. However, they all know what's going on in the town and who's who and who's related to so-and-so and what they ate for breakfast that morning. It's rather like a small Southern American town, actually. Bilbo's a homebody but there's a small spark in him that is still adventurous, thanks to his Took side (shout out to Peregrin Took, Tookishness rule!), and it is this little bit of boldness and a good shove from Gandalf that leads him to join the company of Thorin Oakenshield. This group of dwarves is heading off to the Lonely Mountain (aka Erebor) on a quest to reclaim their treasure from the dragon, Smaug, who took over their kingdom quite a few years back. Dwarves are a proud folk, but eventually Bilbo wins their approval and they actually start looking to him for answers and plans and the like. Their adventures include battling goblins, trekking through a creepy forest, being imprisoned by an Elven king, sneaking back into their own kingdom and then a massive battle. It's easy to sort of lose track of which dwarves are along for the journey (there are 13, so it's a lot of names and many rhyme), but if you do decide to watch The Hobbit movie, they're given rather distinct character traits and appearances. A few stand out in the book, like Thorin, Dori, Balin, Fili, Kili and Bombur; many of the others, poor fellows, sort of fade into the background. Overall, I love this book to pieces, and I would recommend it to basically anyone with a healthy love of fantasy.

Hi Guys,
This week I'm doing a book review for The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, this is the first book I've read in 2012! I'm excited about finishing my first Goodreads book challenge. I want to read 50 books this year, and I hope I can accomplish my goal. The Hobbit is the prequel to The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, and it follows a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo goes on a quest with Gandalf and several Dwarves, and they have many misadventures. They meet lots monstrous creatures, my favorite is the guest appearance of Gollum, who plays a large part in this book, even though he's in it for a short period of time. Here is the synopsis from the back of the book:

Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo-alone and unaided-who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside . . .

My first impression of this book was good. I've been a fan of the Lord of the Rings movies, I haven't read the books yet, but I thought it would be best to start with the Hobbit, and so I sort of knew what it was about. This book was really great. The plot was fast paced, the characters were great, the mythology was well thought out, and I enjoyed the author's humor throughout the book. This book had action throughout, it seemed that in every chapter there was a new creature that they had to fight. The creatures were amazing to learn about, and I learned a lot about most of them. The humor between Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Dwarves, had me laughing a lot throughout this book. I only disliked a few things. One of the things I didn't quite like about the book was all the singing that was done. I know they're all mythical creatures... but really... why do they have to sing? I felt like I was reading a script for Glee (I like Glee, I just don't think I'd like to read about it). The lyrics were great, and went along with the story well, but I didn't like reading the same song several times throughout the book. My personal favorite song was Over the Misty Mountains Cold, it was very eery but it made the mood of that scene. Another thing I didn't really like about this book was the character Gandalf. I liked Gandalf throughout the Lord of the Rings movies, he was one of my favorite characters, but in this book, I just couldn't connect with him. I could connect with every other character though, especially Bilbo, Thorin, and Gollum. I even liked the enemies throughout the book, Smaug was a great addition towards the end, and the Spider scene was cool. I also liked the elves, and the trolls. I just don't know what was wrong with Gandalf's character, something just seemed off to me. Especially when he kept leaving them and coming back just in the nick of time. I give this book 4/5 stars because of these two reasons, but other than that this book was amazing. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the Lord of the Rings series... I would recommend it to anyone really. Check it out if you get a chance, it's worth the 20 pages worth of lyrics, and Gandalf's mysterious disappearances.

Additional Announcement: This book is being made into a movie. The movie is set to release in December of 2012. You can watch the trailer online now. I was happy to hear Over the Misty Mountains Cold during the trailer. I can't wait until the movie, I just hope it lives up to the book. Just don't watch the movie without reading the book first. :D

Reader reviewed by Bettina

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit and likes his life simple, thank you very much. Now, Gandalf the wizard has charged him with a quest that he really doesn't want to go on, but some dwarves show up and drag him along anyway. Along the way, they expirience many frightening and exciting encounters with different creatures.

I thought that the story would have been better if it (and Chronicles of Narnia) had a little more humor. I'm not saying that The Hobbit or Choronicles of Narnia are bad, in fact I like the books somewhat, but it would just be a little better with a little more humor.

Reader reviewed by katy sedmak

This was a pretty good book with a bunch of adventure and a lot of cliff hangers! You never know what's going to happen next. It's a mystery, adventure, kind of horor, book that will keep you wanting to read and find out what will happen next to Bilbo and hi 13 friends.

Reader reviewed by charlene

Written quite in the style of "The Lord of the Rings", yet less confusing and therefore great as a LOTR prelim. I loved this book as child and still enjoy it, as I have it as audio book. The story is equiped with all the creatures and adventures a common fairy tale would have but captures the reader more in that fantasy world. Thumbs up.

Reader reviewed by Spartanx1x

This is an great book. It's a book about how a hobbit, a bunch of dwarves and Gandalf the grey(a wizard)set out to reclaim the dwarves mountian from a dragon called smaug. Smaug lives in an ancient dwarf castle built into a mountain. The the most precious thing is a great jewel the hearts of the mountain and it's dwarfs. Anyway Bilbo the hobbit sneaks in only to be stopped by sm,aug. What happens next? You'll have to read it to find out.