The Hobbit

I first read The Hobbit when I was nine. I read it for the second time when I was nine, and I think a third time. Since then, I’ve read it another thirty or forty times or more, most recently last week at the time of writing (January 1, 2011). As you may well gather from this, I’m inordinately fond of this book. Not only is it a great children’s book of that rare kind still enjoyable to adults, not only is it the precursor and gateway to The Lord of the Rings, it’s also what had me devouring fantasy novels for the next decade and more. (I still read fantasy, but no longer with anything like that exclusivity.)