Once Upon a Time... discussion
This topic is about
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
High/Epic/Portal Fantasy
>
The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings #0) by J.R.R. Tolkien - March 2023
date
newest »
newest »
I read this several times as a young teen and look forward to a reread, assuming I can get it (I'm traveling).
Mod
This recipe was chosen as a result of the requests from Bilbo’s unexpected guests of dwarves and a wizard. Balin specifically asked Bilbo for some seed cake, which, when gone, the dwarves started “on a round of buttered scones.� Bifur requested raspberry jam and apple tarts, Gandalf for a few eggs, and all asked for more cakes. This recipe combines some of those items (seed cake, eggs, butter, raspberry jam) into single-serving moist “seed cakes� or muffins.
Seedcakes Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
2 large lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup vanilla or plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp raspberry jam
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350° F. In the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed, combine zest, sugar, and melted butter for one to two minutes or until all are combined. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. To the mixer, add the Greek yogurt and vanilla extract and mix for one minute. Drop the speed to low and add half of the flour mixture a little at a time. Add the lemon juice, followed by one egg. Mix for half a minute, then add the rest of the flour, the poppy seeds, and the last egg. Mix on medium-low just until all the flour disappears and appears mixed in. Stop the mixer to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula if any of the flour is sticking to the walls of the bowl.
In a paper-lined (or well oil-sprayed) muffin tin, dollop a a heaping tablespoon of muffin batter into each muffin well. Use a teaspoon to place a dollop of raspberry jam on top (try to aim for the center) of each of these scoops of batter. Spoon the remaining batter evenly onto the tops of the jam muffins. Bake for about 16-18 minutes or until the sides of the muffins begin to turn brown. Makes about 1 dozen muffins.
What a great choice for book club! and the recipe is fun. Thanks for sharing!
Oh my. I'd somehow forgotten that there's going to be too many references to food in the book. Get out the stretch pants!
I haven't started my re-read yet (probably sometime this or next week) but I was thinking about something. In books like The Hobbit, that have songs in them, does anyone else sing the songs to themselves while reading them like I do? Or do you just read the text as normal?
I have no ear or training, so no idea how it would be sung, but I always try anyway, wishing I could come up with something reasonable. Is there a youtube channel or somesuch?
I love that question, Kyle! When I read the Hobbit aloud to my daughter in the past few years I actually found the songs from the movie and played them for her because I loved how they had done them, but for other books if there is a song I stop reading and she sings the song. For myself I often hear them inside my head but don't sing them aloud.
Mod
Mod
lol food friend! Yup that's the perfect typo.The Peter Jackson ones. I do like them despite how ridiculously long they are. Side note we had someone come in and ask for The Rings of Power in the bookstore the other day. He was not impressed that it's not a book.
Mod
Mod
I actually had to look up The Rings of Power because I didn't know that is what the Lord of the Rings TV series is called and was wondering why someone would think it was a book. I guess you directed him to the actual books.
Gem, I hope you enjoy it as much as I always have. I honestly can't remember when I read it for the first time, but it was a very long time ago, definitely before I graduated and that was in 1979! I don't even know how many times I have read it, but it seems I always find something new and interesting each time.
This is the first time I am reading The Hobbit Companion and although I knew Tolkien was a professor with an intense interest in words and their meanings, reading how the words influenced the character of hobbits is fascinating.
Once you’ve finished The Hobbit and if you have a desire to learn more about Tolkien I highly recommend watching the movie titled Tolkien. It’s stunning. Such an amazingly well done movie and one I will always recommend to anyone. But also a movie I will never watch again. It made me feel A LOT.
Mod
Mod
I am reading it slowly this time, as I have been dealing with multiple other things like family health issues, and reading a lot of other books at the same time. I am only in the middle of chapter 7
Mod
I am reading it slowly this time, as I have been dealing with multiple other things like family health issues, and reading a lot of other books at the same time. I am only in the middle of chapter 7"
I've seen TLoR so many times I've lost count. I think I've only seen the hobbit movies once. From TLoR I knew he lived underground, in caves but if the island was mentioned I don't recall that. This doesn't mean it wasn't there, I just don't remember that being the case.
I completely understand the health issues. I'm in the midst of a pretty bad fibro flair-up, this one has been longer than I can remember in a long time. I don't always have the concentration to read when this is going on. I really want to read this one and not switch to audio, but I'll do that if it means finishing it.
Mod
I, on the other hand, have read The Hobbit countless times and the LOTR series several times. I always knew Gollum lived on an underground island in the middle of a lake. That was always easy for me to visualize. Oddly enough, the tunnels and caverns were the difficult thing to visualize.
Mod
It's not my fault! lol My husband loves the Lord of the Rings books and doesn't like the Hobbit. So when we watch we only watch the Lord of the Rings. The things I do for love!
I've watched the Lord of the Rings movies many times as well (usually the extended versions) and really like them, but each of the newer Hobbit movies I've only seen exactly once. They're fine, I neither liked nor disliked them really. I'm not really sure why ~300 pages of book needed to be 9+ hours of movie. I grew up with the 1977 animated Hobbit movie, which I remember liking but haven't seen in years... I might have to look into a rewatch of that one.
(I'll have to come back later. I forgot to request a copy! :(
How much dragon do y'all like in your fantasy reads? A lot of dragon or a little (or I suppose none if you don't like dragons)?Smaug, while being absolutely necessary for the story to happen at all, is only physically present in a couple of chapters toward the end, and only briefly at that. Even Bilbo's interaction and chat with Smaug was much briefer than I had remembered.
I think this adds to the mysteriousness and perceived power of Smaug as it lets the reader sort of fill in the blanks on our own as we mostly only know about Smaug from second-hand descriptions from the characters we are more familiar with. Kind of like a celebrity that everyone knows, but doesn't know personally, and that can kind of create a larger-than-life or idealized image of that person that would be shattered by actually meeting them.
Anyway, I think I usually like my dragons in smaller doses compared to the overall story. Like a condiment on the burger, rather than a patty or the bun. Still important, but not the main feature/character.
Mod
However, I have read and totally enjoyed books where the dragon or dragons are actually the main characters.
I also enjoy seeing the various ways dragons can be perceived and the various abilities that can be given to them based on the lore the author uses.
I agree, Smaug got exactly the amount of page time as was apt for this story. I am so glad y'all gave me an excuse to read this yet again. I find more reasons to give it 5 stars each time, even though I find flaws and things I find disagreeable each time, too.
For example, on this read I noticed how particularly abusive the dwarves are to Bilbo whenever they get frustrated. Blaming him for awakening Smaug when he took just one cup, for example. (Not to mention how their lust for gold & gems clouds their judgement.) And yet they are portrayed as among the good guys, and Bilbo thinks of them as friends ever after.
Is he a doormat? Or a saint? Or is this what friends normally do? (I've never had any friends so I sincerely don't know.)
Mod
Balin did stand out as more supportive. Oh, and it was Dori who carried Bilbo piggy-back in one episode, iirc. But yeah, Thorin, well, what would his illustrious ancestors thought of him, I wonder.
Mod
After having read this selection how does everyone feel about reading The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? Is it something that interests you? I thought we could do one book a month over a six-month period interspersed with other books in between so we don't get burnt out.
Mod
Mod
It doesn't have to be anytime soon. I just wanted to put it on the table as a possible for future reads.
Tbh, I have no interest. I've tried several times and cannot get into LotR at all. But don't defer on my account!
Mod
Thanks for the feedback Cheryl.
Welcome to our discussion about The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings #0) by J.R.R. Tolkien, your discussion leader will be Gem.
___________________________________________
about spoilers
Please note: If you have not finished reading the book spoilers are permitted in this discussion from the start. If you would like to use the spoiler formatting it can be found on the top right of the comment box in the "(some html is ok)" menu.
___________________________________________
A Crown of Snow and Ice A Retelling of The Snow Queen (Beyond the Four Kingdoms, #3) by Melanie Cellier
Summary
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.
Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.