I am a hopeless Tolkien fanatic. And it all began here.When I was little, I was aware that there were movies in my house called Lord of the Rings, and that I was not allowed to watch them. I was easily scared then, so when The Hobbit appeared in my homeschool curriculum, I discovered that it was written by the author of the dreaded Lord of the Rings, and I flat-out refused to read it. No way was I subjecting myself to the terror and nightmares that must surely result from this kind of hard-core horror! After several weeks of begging and threatening from my parents, I tearfully consented to my doom, and sat down to get it over with.I read the whole thing that night; then I read it again the next day. I knew I had found something amazing, the most beautiful piece of writing I had encuontered since Narnia. Now that I'm older, I love this story even more. I'm still just a teen, and I know that most people won't respect my literary opinions, but please believe that if you do not read The Hobbit, you are denying yourself one of the most amazing books ever written. It may not be as adult-oriented as The Lord of the Rings, but Bilbo Baggins, who is one of those rare people who knows that "a good fire, a good meal, and a good friend are worth more than all the riches and glory of the world" (I would add a good book to that list)will resonate with anyone who has ever known real contentment. Highly reccommended.