Rating: 
Summary: Insanely Good!!!!!
Review: I first read this book in seventh grade because I had heard great things about it from relatives and friends. I didn't think I would read it all in about two days. I couldn't put it down I stopped on the first day at a part where Bilbo Baggins of Hobbiton was saving all of his dwarf friends from giant spiders in the mirkwood. The next day I woke up at about six o'clock just to finish the book. When I was finished and just about the same second that I was finished I begged my Mom to take me to the book store to get The Fellowship of the Ring. I highly recomend this book to people of all ages.
Rating:
Summary: The one that started it all... Yes its a bit 'kiddy'
Review: Perhaps THE BEST little adventure story every written. Written for kids but certainly enjoyed by all. It has trolls, dragons, a kindly but strange wizard, dwarves, and of course Hobbits. It's really a story of bravery and strong friendships in the face of mishaps and evil things. What stands out in this book and The Lord of the Rings is that the world Tolkien creates sucks you in hopelessly. It only takes a few sentances and you really feel like you are along for the journey.
Tolkien creates a world with a huge history full of peoples and monsters and dwarves, with nature playing a large role in all of his books. The history part is small in The Hobbit since its focused on the journey and characters. The Hobbit is meant to be a lead-in to The Lord of the Rings, which has much more history and nature and more characters than the Hobbit. 'Rings is a darker tale and much more serious. Its harder to read, much longer, and I think the best adventure story ever written. In response to Chris Fletcher, you have some valid criticisms of Tolkien. His writing style is a bit, well, sticky. When you think things should be moving faster and faster and the action is coming, you instead get "and then the big troll (or whatever) was killed. On to the next adventure." However, the upside to this is you really feel like you are reading a kind of history book found in Middle Earth. I think Tolkien was a bit nuts and that's why his stuff was so good. He half-believed he really was writing and living in the world of his own making. He created entire languages, maps, unforgetable characters and mostly sad but gripping tales of adventure. Some people can't get through Tolkien's sticky prose when reading the lengthy The Lord of the Rings and I understand why, but stick with it! After reading the whole thing you will be glad you did. Remember no one can tell you how to read a book. If you come accross a paragraph about Bilbo's half-sister and all her family and the history of her cat, just skip it if you want. Tolkien really does go out on a limb sometimes escpecially with all the names and family trees and fictional history.
However, this same strange Tolkien style allows for re-reading and getting much more information, and a sense of depth and life to Middle Earth that is truely amazing. I have read the series, both the Hobbit and LOTR twice and I got much more the second time through. I read it slower and tried to keep the characters and places in my head. You can buy a nice map book which lays out all of tolkiens worlds in detail including battles and paths that the characters follow. Its by Karen Wynn Fonstad and has a lot of detail. Careful though, some plot happenings are given away in the tracking of characters and the battle maps :D
If you really want to get background info you have to start with the Silmarillion. And that beast can drive you crazy. Parts of it are amazing to read however and it explains some of the history that was confusing in LOTR. Where did Galadriel come from? What or who exactly is Gandalf? What's a wizard? What are the counterparts to Sauron and other evil in middle earth? Surely there must be some good gods or angel like beings? So, Silmarillion: very difficult, for tolkein fans mostly. Its long, hundreds of names, not a continuous story. It does explain a great deal about the gods and formation of Middle Earth and many things and people and places that show up later in the Hobbit and LOTR. Hobbit: very easy fun read, not a whole lot of depth, short, great characters, great adventure. The Lord of the Rings: medium difficulty, lots of depth, some history, lots of names, some difficult and confusing paragraphs, but a truely great tale. The kind of book where you find yourself kinda stunned after reading the last sentance. (The movie is not bad, but messed things up a bit, read the book! Notice that Tolkien's name is not on the movie. The family took their name off it because of the Hollywood treatment.)
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Story for all ages !
Review: The Hobibt by J.R.R. Tolkien's is a true masterpiece that I would reccomend to any reader. Tolkein has made a unique union between fantasy adventure, nature, and magic, by writing the hobbit, which tells the adventure of Bilbo Baggins and the crew of thirteen dwarves, and the grey mage Gandalf, to take the treasure of Smaug the great who stole the treasure from the dwarves long ago. This book does not have to be, but should be read before the others.
C.M Whitlock's The Price of Immortality is highly recommended
Rating: 
Summary: It's decent, but may I recommend Lord of the Rings instead
Review: I first have to say that I read Lord of the Rings before I read the Hobbit. And in my opinion, The Hobbit wasn't that fantastic. It was meant to be a children's book and I'm not a child. First of all, the book lacked any fast-pacing. Lord of the Rings had it but the Hobbit didn't. Bilbo and company waded through Middle-Earth like they had all the time in the world, where as in Lord of the Rings, Frodo was going quick to destroy the Ring since he realized of the terrible evil and danger that could happen if he didn't. Bilbo thought he had eternity to destroy Smaug and save the country. Secondly, the book lacked the action and fighting Lord of the Rings had. I didn't understand if there was a battle with Smaug or any fight against the spiders. And then miraclously, evil was defeated. I thought, "How? No one did anything!". Hobbits weren't meant for fighting but sheesh, Tolkien could've used some action scenes in the Hobbit like he did in Lord of the Rings. The only redeeming factor is that reading the Hobbit first will give you more insight on Lord of the Rings. Personally, I think it's decent but read Lord of the Rings instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good book for video game addicts
Review: This is a wonderful book full of rich characters set in a time and place that never existed...or did it? The characters in it are so real with good and bad traits that we can all identify with. There's always an air of mystery, of something that is just beyond our sight and more than it appears. I don't rate this as highly as The Lord of the Rings trilogy because it's written to a younger audience. But it is still a wonderful tale told well that anyone can read. I just prefer the depth of the other set. All of the bad reviews I've read of this book have been from video game players who have the attention span of a memory chip. Wake up, o sleeper and partake of a real adventure!
Rating:
Summary: Great fun for all ages
Review: This book is truely a work of art. I have only had such fun in reading a book in a select few other occasions. It is my favorite of Tolkien's works and that is saying a lot. It is an adventure beyond the magical as it shows the power of wit and inner strength. Being called the precurser to the Lord of the Rings does not do it justice. It is simply the most universally enjoyable story that I have ever read. I do not remember ever laughing so hard from a book. It brought a boundless smile to my face. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
Rating:
Summary: The Hobbit
Review: If you like adventure, fantasy, treasure, or, you could even call it suspenseful, books, than you absolutely have to read The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, sets out on a quest for - read the book - with some dwarves. Along the way to - read the book - they encounter a lot of obstacles and strange or interesting creatures. When they get to - read the book- there is a -read the book - and at the end Bilbo - read the book - get home safely.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Lord of the rings.
Review: The lord of the rings trilogy was just straight and flat out boring. I hated those books so much that I couldn't describe. The hobbit, however, is ten times better and actually has some good stuff and action scenes to it. The whole thing is interesting, since the plot is very unique, and also the characters are richly and warmly developed. This is the stuff that good fantasy is made out of, and I don't know why Tolkien changed his writing skills when he wrote lord of the rings. Anyways, this book rocks. It's a great book to read next to the fireplace on a rainy night inside your home, and the paintings which are held inside this book, (In other words what Tolkien describes and how he describes it) Is simply and positively extraordinary and different from all other books that I have read, and I've read lots of books. Anyways, get this book. At first, it didn't really seem interesting. But a lot of great books don't immediatly start out interesting. But after the slow parts, it's like a rollar coaster. The lord of the rings, however, was slow all the way through. I'm surprised that people even manage to read all three installments.
Anyways, this book is great. Many other authors have copied Tolkien and just came out with pale imitations. This is the original fantasy book which started the entire genre of good fantasy epic novels. Read this book. It's excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Rather Bland
Review: There is no action, no underlying them, it's too gory, but, it wasn't horrible. I personally could never get through it, but I've gotten about halfway various times, and I don't care for it. The reading level is about the same a Black Beauty, which I read in second grade. However, you never get to really like any characters, and there isn't any kind of theme. As Tolkein says, if you like there-and-back again kind of books, read the Hobbit. I would recommend it to middle school boys who enjoy action figures and role playing battle games. And people with no life and lots of time.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant in All Ways
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien's work on The Hobbit was excellent! The mental pictures of characters and places that were painted by Tolkien's words were extreme. His illustrations were just a beautiful. The way this book was written allowed me to be able to read the book to my 8-year-old cousin without having to explain what was happening in the story. He enjoyed the book a lot and even asked if he could read it to me. The book is "addicting", it makes you want to constantly read on. "What will happen to Bilbo next?" "Where is Gandalf?" It also helps that Tolkien used "Deus ex machina"(Latin for god from machine), meaning that out of nowhere one of the characters will save the day, and that he used this method correctly by only using Gandalf for this once in a while and then not using him anymore. **The book is about Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from Bag End in the Shire, and his being forced into a journey to steel back treasure from Smaug for thirteen dwarves that think he is a theif. His is forced into this journey by Gandalf, a wizard and old friend of Bilbo's family on the Took side, and his secret need to find go on an adventure, which is frowned upon by hobbits. On his journey encounters fantastic creatures including gollum, whom he steels a magic ring that makes you invisable from. As they make their voyage across Middle Earth the come across many challanges and even a war.
But the end of this story is for you to find out on you own. Therefore, I urge you to read this book and enjoy its every word because it has to be much better than all of mine.
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