Why am I passionate about this?
I've always been a reader. In my childhood, I read Hardy Boys novels by the bucketload. I loved scholastic book fairs, pouring over the lists to find new books to read. Then my uncle gave me The Hobbit followed by giving me a hardback set of Lord of the Rings for Christmas of the 6th Grade. After that, my mother gave me Pawn of Prophecy, which cemented my love of the genre. I write fantasy because of all the books I listed. Each one led me down a path that ended with me publishing my first novel.
JMD's book list on fall in love with fantasy
Why did JMD love this book?
This is the first pure fantasy book I had ever read. In the summer break between my 4th and 5th Grade, while my Mom, little brother, and I were visiting my grandparents in California, I was at the pool. I loved going to the pool and swimming, but this day, my Uncle Dave lent me a battered paperback of his favorite book. Instead of swimming, I was reading this amazing story. And while it was a few more years before I was able to tackle The Lord of the Rings, this was the beginning of my love for fantasy.
The Hobbit is a fun adventure. Some danger. Some whimsy. Tragic death. I could not put this book down.
45 authors picked The Hobbit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
Special collector's film tie-in hardback of the best-selling classic, featuring the complete story with a sumptuous cover design inspired by THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY and brand new reproductions of all the drawings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely travelling further than the pantry of his hobbit-hole in Bag End.
But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of thirteen dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an unexpected journey 'there and back again'. They have a plot to raid…