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Hello, I'm a British author and have enjoyed reading Tolkien's books since my childhood (like many of you). I enjoy both his fiction and essays, and find myself agreeing with him on many things.

I've also written a couple of articles on his works, the last of which you can read on Mythic Scribes at should you so wish.

I also acted as lead developer in a popular Middle-earth mod from 2006-2009 in an effort to accurately represent the spirit and lore of Tolkien's world in a game (which software companies (and other mods) seem to have a hard time doing...)

I'm looking forward to The Hobbit film, and enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies. It was good to see fantasy films, at last, that weren't tacky ;) Yes, like Christopher, I also cringed at the deviations! (we now have a generation of fans who think Saruman fell off of Orthanc, that Elves came to the Battle of Helm's Deep, that the Mouth of Sauron had his head chopped off, and have the Haradrian and Easterling cultures reversed - oh well, reading the books wil remedy that! ;) )

Glad to be here.

Hi, my name is Alma, I'm from Lithuania. I've discovered Tolkien after P. Jackson's movies, but since then, it seems, I can't have enough. Of all what I've read (and it's far from all) I liked The Silmarillion most.

Michael wrote: "Linda and Cyon: Apologies for not welcoming you sooner (notifications don't always work, I'm afraid) - Welcome :-D

And, Christopher, welcome, also! :-D (Is that too many commas?)"

Thank you! And I couldn't tell you, since I tend to overuse commas myself. ;)

Yes, like Christopher, I also cringed at the deviations! (we now have a generation of fans who think Saruman fell off of Orthanc, that Elves came to the Battle of Helm's Deep, that the Mouth of Sauron had his head chopped off, and have the Haradrian and Easterling cultures reversed - oh well, reading the books wil remedy that! ;) )"

Yes, indeed! I came to the conclusion that ultimately the films were a positive thing. After all, the Rankin/Bass & Bakshi animated versions were full of deviations and inaccuracies as well, but they introduced me to the books and that's what matters. :)

Alma wrote: "Hi, my name is Alma, I'm from Lithuania. I've discovered Tolkien after P. Jackson's movies, but since then, it seems, I can't have enough. Of all what I've read (and it's far from all) I liked The ..."

Hi Alma - thanks for joining us. I love the Silmarillion, too. It's a very rich and dense book (hmm, rather like the British government at the moment now that I think about it!).

Martina wrote: "Hello! I'm new here, but not new to Tolkien's world :D I've known for his works for about 7 years now, I think. I just love all of the stories. I'm trying to collect all the books but it's kind of ..."

Hi Martina - welcome to our little corner of Middle-earth. What have you already read? I'm sure somebody will be able to recommend to you something to expand your horizons :-)

Hi all:) new to this group and a Tolkien amateur I'm afraid.. Have read the Hobbit, LOTR a number of times in the past 10 years and I bought a copy of the Silmarillion that is sadly & anxiously waiting for me on my bookshelf..I'm slightly intimidated to start it for some reason.. Possibly because I don't feel "expert" enough yet with the basics!

Any reading/study recommendations greatly appreciated!

Oh sorry, I'm from Ireland by the way!

Hello All!

I am Alicia and I am a student with a love for Tolkien. I have read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit several times, and have recently purchased the Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, and a few others that are grouped together in anthologies, as well as his lecture Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics. I am also currently writing a paper on The Hobbit, which has led me to many biographies (one of my favorite being John Garth's) bibliographies, critiques and essays on his work. The more I find out about Tolkien and the world of Middle Earth the happier I get. I am joining this group for two reasons. 1: I love Tolkien and I would love to discuss his work with other people. 2: I am writing a paper about him and I would love to get other people's perspective of his work on some specific issues. But mainly, I want to talk to other Tolkien lovers!

Hi, folks! I've been a Tolkien fan since I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a teen, a zillion years ago. It led me on a winding path to an occupation as a writer, editor, and indie-press publisher. For some years I was acquisitions editor for The Writer Books, connected with The Writer magazine.

One of my recent books is , in which I take a step back from the details of great fantasy books and series to look at the field as a whole (with lots of references to Tolkien, not surprisingly). I'm not a Tolkien scholar, more of a literary editor interested in him as an author writing great literature.

Another recent work of mine is the book , a guide for writers on how to create better stories.

I also run a couple of blogs, with tips for writers, and for posts on fantasy lit.

I'm excited about The Hobbit movie, coming soon! And I enjoy all the posts from others in this group; lovely to hear from others with the same passions.

Hi!
I'm Carolyn, I joined the group a couple of weeks ago but am finally making a comment. I have been spending sometime reading all the dicussions that have been posted in this group! I have really been enjoying what everyone has been saying!
I have been a fan on Tolkien since grade 8 when I made my first attempt at The Hobbit, I only made it 3/4th of the way through before I stopped reading and I'm not sure why I did. I read The Hobbit, again and The Lord of the Rings during High School just before the first movie came out! Ever since I have been greowing my Tolkien collection and have read so many more of his works!
I look forward to reading more posts and taking part in discussions with all of you! I am really looking forward to the group read of The Father Christmas Letters which I read every year!

Hi! I'm new to the group. I read the Hobbit for the first time this summer, and am now reading Fellowship. I plan on finishing the Trilogy this December. I thought the movies were kind of boring because of the huge, long, epic fight scenes, but I am enjoying the books more that I thought I would.

Jessika wrote: "I thought the movies were kind of boring because of the huge, long, epic fight scenes, but I am enjoying the books more that I thought I would..."

Welcome, Jessika. The books are better than the films - so much more depth (though on their own terms, I do enjoy the films immensely).

Ciao!

My story with Tolkien so far (abridged): I read TLotR as a child, re-read The Fellowship before the movie came out, failed to keep up with the other two parts, failed to conclude The Silmarillion (so far), just read The Hobbit before THAT movie comes out.

Last night I wrote a piece with my very first impressions on the book, even before I discovered anything about its composition &c. It took nothing more than the wiki page (a very good one) to prove me wrong on some point! Therefore I'm withholding the piece unitl I learn more about the book and its author - and surely this group will be a tremendous help!

Hi, Antonela here!

My Tolkien story started with my sister being obsessed with Middle-earth. So if my sister liked it I had to read it. And i fell in love with Tolkien's world myself!

Currently trying to finish The Silmarillion and reread The Hobbit before it comes to theaters!

I hope I will learn a lot more about Tolkien and his work from you!

Hi everyone, I'm Shelley. I have never read any of Tolkien's work before (but am currently reading The Hobbit), but I've wanted to ever since I saw The Lord of the Rings movies when I was a kid. I know that it's kind of frowned upon with some people when you watch the movies first, but I had never even heard of the series or Tolkien until the movies! Anyway, I just downloaded the book you guys are reading this month and can't wait to read it! Nice to meet you all!

Hi I'm Destinie. I have been a Tolkien fan since I read The Hobbit when I was 10 in my 5th grade class. I have since read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and I am still working on the Silmarillion. I know how to write in elvish, and my family has a tradition of watching The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Edition every Christmas. It's nice to see I'm not alone :)

Hello everyone, I'm Ed, and I really love Tolkien's work! I have discovered about him long ago, but just recently began to read his books. I am currently reading the Hobbit - almost finishing it! - and I'll begin to read Children of Húrin soon. I've already bought The Silmarillion too, just waiting for it to arrive and then I'm going to buy the LotR trilogy. Actually I want to read all of his books and related, so I'd like a few reading tips :D Thank you all!

Hello, I'm Rebecca, I love The Lord of the Rings films, and only recently got into the books;when I was younger, I just couldn't get into them. I've read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, and I'm reading The Two Towers. After The Return of the King, I plan on reading The Children of Húrin, The Silmarillion, and The Unfinished Tales. After that, I'm going to try and get hold of The History of Middle Earth books :)

@Flummox and Rebecca

I don't know if there is a "correct order" in which to read Tolkien's works.

I think it's an interesting question, and I will search for a previous discussion, to add my comment. If I could not find a previous discussion, I will start it

Hello, I just joined good reads after hearing about it from other bloggers. I've been a Tolkien fan since 1990 when I borrowed "The Hobbit" from a local library and hid it under my bed. My family has some very negative views of Tolkien based on what they were told in church. Luckily, I defied them and have been a serious fan for now more than 20 years. Tolkien is my biggest influence as a writer. Not only did he teach me it's okay to create a truly complete world for my books, but he gave me permission to write songs and put them in my stories. I am the writer I am today because I read and re-read his work!

Hello, everyone. I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as a very advanced reader of age 10, daughter of parents so addicted to reading that they owned a bookstore. I read these books 2 or 3 times a year. I adore Tolkien.

Hi, my name is TeaDrinkingCat, but most just call me Rainbow. I've only just joined the Lord of the Rings fandom, due to having to watch Fellowship of the Ring in school. I seemed to be one of the few who enjoyed it, sadly. So far I have finished reading Fellowship of the Ring, and have gotten about halfway-through the Hobbit (I've read up until the point where part 1 of the film ends). I've watched all of the movies, and I'm afraid to watch Return of the King again because last time I cried for the entirety of the film, to the point where at the end I had no more tears left to cry and instead did this awkward-sobbing.
My favorite character is Frodo, a few others being Merry, Goldberry, Gimli and Legolas. Anyway, the fandom has been extremely welcoming to me, and I think it's a one of the best I've seen.

To all recent new-comers, welcome to the Group - I hope you enjoy exploring :-)

Rainbow, I would suggest that you do not read The Children of Húrin any time soon as it is 100 times sadder than The Return of the King. I hope that you're enjoying reading The Hobbit, though :-)

Rainbow Dash/TeaDrinkingCat wrote: "Hi, my name is TeaDrinkingCat, but most just call me Rainbow. I've only just joined the Lord of the Rings fandom, due to having to watch Fellowship of the Ring in school. I seemed to be one of the ..."

Merry meet, Rainbow! I first read Lord of the Rings my first year in college. I loved it so much I named my bird "Frodo." Frodo was such a special bird, I still talk about him, even though he's been gone for many years.

Did you know that there is a radio version of Lord of the Rings? It was made by the BBC a long time before the movies. And guess what? Ian Holm (the man who played Bilbo in the movies) played FRODO in the radio version!

Yeah, I actually heard about that! But I didn't know about Ian Holm; that's really cool!

Greetings all! My name is John and I have been an avid Tolkien fan over twenty years. My father gave me a copy of The Hobbit to read and I have been getting my fantasy geek on ever since. I still think we should go back to fighting wars with swords, catapults and trebuchets!

John wrote: "Greetings all! My name is John and I have been an avid Tolkien fan over twenty years. My father gave me a copy of The Hobbit to read and I have been getting my fantasy geek on ever since. I sti..."
Actually you can -- more or less -- it's called the Society for Creative Anachronism (). It's the world's largest historical re-creation society. Its founders include Marion Zimmer Bradley and Diane Paxton. And yes, a lot of us are Tolkien fans too!

Thank you Laurel! I am looking into it now as we speak!

I my name is Emilie. I'm a wife and mother of 2 from canada. I just finished the Hobbit and now want to read all of J.R.R. Tolkien books.

Emilie wrote: "I my name is Emilie. I'm a wife and mother of 2 from canada. I just finished the Hobbit and now want to read all of J.R.R. Tolkien books."

When to you get to Return of the King, BE SURE to read the appendices! There is a lot of fantastic stuff in there, including and especially background on the primary LOTR characters AND what happens to them AFTER the final chapter of Return of the King!

What part of Canada? I am 1/8th Canadian. :)

Laurel wrote: "Emilie wrote: "I my name is Emilie. I'm a wife and mother of 2 from canada. I just finished the Hobbit and now want to read all of J.R.R. Tolkien books."

When to you get to Return of the King, BE ..."

Ontario
Thanks for the tip.

Hey everyone. My name is Martina. I am HUGE fan of Tolkien's work and Tolkien the man. I become fan of Tolkien´s work when I was 10 years old (29 now) and my dad gave me book Roverandom. After Roverandom I read The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings.

Martina wrote: "Hey everyone. My name is Martina. I am HUGE fan of Tolkien's work and Tolkien the man. I become fan of Tolkien´s work when I was 10 years old (29 now) and my dad gave me book Roverandom. After Rove..."

Hi Martina - welcome to the group :-)

Ken wrote: "Hi everyone.My name is Ken.I am new to Tolkien, having just seen the Hobbit film I would like to start reading his books.Could anyone tell me which book would be the best one to start with please? ..."

Hi Ken; welcome to Tolkienworld! We've got a poll about whether or not we liked the Hobbit film, which I guess you enjoyed as you're here -)

The Hobbit is a good place to start reading as an introduction to Middle-earth and will set you up nicely for The Lord of the Rings, which latter book we're just starting as a Group Read.

Ken wrote: "Hi everyone.My name is Ken.I am new to Tolkien, having just seen the Hobbit film I would like to start reading his books.Could anyone tell me which book would be the best one to start with please? ..."

Welcome to Middle Earth, Ken! I agree that the Hobbit is a logical first place to start. It introduces Middle Earth, Hobbits, and a few key players from Lord of the Rings like Gandalf.

58 is not too old to start. In fact, IMHO, most of Tolkien's work is best appreciated by adults. I was almost 19 when I read "The Hobbit."

After The Hobbit, do be sure to start in with Fellowship of the Ring. The appendices in Return of the King are absolutely a must to read. I did not read them the first couple times I worked through the series and really missed out.

hey everyone! I'm Elora, I am 17 but I've been a fan of Tolkien's work for around ten years when my mom introduced me to the movies first. I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings multiple times, The Silmarillion, and a few more and I'm currently reading The Children of Húrin. If anyone has any other suggestions I would be grateful :)

Elora wrote: "hey everyone! I'm Elora, I am 17 but I've been a fan of Tolkien's work for around ten years when my mom introduced me to the movies first. I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings multiple ti..."

I like Lost Tales for the way it helps you understand Galadriel.

Hi Elora

Welcome to the Group :-)

As you've read the core Middle-earth books, you could start anywhere, really. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a particular favourite of mine, if you want to stay in Middle-earth and read some of the poetry "written by" Bilbo and some Hobbit folk rhymes. Or, you could have a look at our featured poll which has some suggestions for our next Group read in April, which is non-Middle-earth themed.

Otherwise, the discussion folders are mainly named after particular areas of Tolkien's writings, so you could have a look at some past discussions and see what strikes your fancy. If you're still not sure, please ask and one of the Group will be sure to offer further suggestions :-)

Good day. I am MikoNoNyte and I have been a fan of Tolkien since I first read The Hobbit back in 1967. I've read most of his works published (just got Finn & Hengest) but it's a toss up whether 'tis Lord of the Rings or Silmarillion as my favorites.

Thank you Michael and Laurel for you welcome and your suggestions :) I will definitely look into them! :)

Hi Miko - welcome to the Group :-)

I read Tolkien while in the U.S. Army many years ago, and my children have discovered Tolkien and are avid fans.

Hi! Although I watched al the LotR movies, I'm ashamed to say I never read the books, so I finally wanted to start reading them!

I finished The Hobbit a few weeks back and now I'm almost done with The Fellowship of the Ring, and I love it! I also received The Silmarillion and Unifinished Tales for Christmas so I'm even more motivated to read them all! :)

Hi everyone! My name is Akshay. I am 21 years old and have been reading Tolkien's books for 7 years now. I was initially inspired to read The Lord of the Rings after watching the Fellowship of the Ring movie. I've also read the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin. My brother recently gifted me The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, and I plan to start reading soon!

Hi Guys! My name is Ryan, and I have been reading Tolkien's works since I was in 3rd Grade, with The Hobbit. Immediately after I finished The Hobbit, the trailer for Fellowship film was released, and I scrambled to finish that work. I have since reread the trilogy every year for almost 14 years, alternating every other year with the Hobbit and The Silmarillion. I am looking to add the recently published histories, and Children of Hurin to my enjoyment of Tolkien.

Hola! I'm Valerie, 23 years old from NYC! I first read Tolkien when I was 12, I believe.. seeing and falling in love with the films lead me to read the books and fall even more in love with Middle Earth and its inhabitants :)

Hi I am Scott. I'm finishing The Hobbit now, and am going to try to catch up for the group read. Even if I don't, I'm sure there will be plenty of insightful discussion to read once I finish. I read the Hobbit when I was young. I started the Lord of the Rings, but never finished the series.

My name's Alex been a fan of Tolkien for about two years have read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Children of Hurin. I have his biography by Carpenter and The Silmarillion which i still need to read.

Hello I'm Jill. I read Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in addition to the appendices when I was 12 and absolutely adored them. My favorite character is Eowyn and I am currently re-reading The Hobbit with plans to re-read the trilogy this year. I also intend to read The Silmarillion this year as well. Glad to find fellow Tolkien fans here!

Hi my name is Georgia. Last week I finished The Hobbit, my first Tolkien. It greatly exceeded my exceptions and I was constantly unable to put it down. Everything about the book was thoroughly memorising... the plot, the characters, Middle Earth. I often found myself lost in the never ending darkness of Mirkwood or running from goblins and wargs.

I have been meaning to read Tolkien for a few years now and I'm glad I finally did! Peter Jackson, film adaptations of the Lord of Rings are among my favourite films. I now intend to read LOTR to see how the films compare with the literary masterpiece.

I look forward to many discussions with fellow Tolkien fans.