JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit"

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If you have watched the Lord of the Rings movies, you are probably familiar with the fact that - even before "Lord of the Rings" was ever written or published - there was a book called "The Hobbit," but in spite of the fact that you probably know the book exists, you may have never read the book yourself, and you might not even know much about it at all.

Even though JRR Tolkien knew what happened after "The Hobbit," he had no intentions of writing that story (that is to say, "Lord of the Rings"); due to the success of the "The Hobbit," however, he gave in and decided to write the entire story - everything that happened after "The Hobbit" ended.

As is indicated throughout the movies, "The Hobbit" tells the story of how the ring came to be in Bilbo Baggins's possession, but the book also introduces a number of characters and story lines that pop up again in the movies and in the "Lord of the Rings" books. The most interesting thing about reading "The Hobbit," however, is the manner in which it was written; while "Lord of the Rings" was written with an audience of college students and older in mind, "The Hobbit" was written in such a way that it can appeal to children - and much like the great "children's works" that came before and after it (works such as Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland," CS Lewis's Narnia books, and JK Rowling's Harry Potter series), these books appeal to adults as much as they appeal to children!

If you are a fan of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, you owe it to yourself to make sure you read "The Hobbit"; but even if you are not a huge fan of those books - if you are just a fan of great literature, or if you are simply looking for a fun book to keep you company for a week or two this summer - you should consider giving Tolkien's "The Hobbit" a look.