J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the criteria I use to judge whether a book is truly worthwhile: If the last copy was in a burning building, would I rush into the flames to rescue it? And for Tolkien the answer is yes. I would take third degree burns to save his books.

The Lord of the Rings is sweeping. It is tall and deep, wide and far. It is Magic.

No author ever built a world as completely as Tolkien did. Or a mythology. Literary Scholars talk about Middle Earth in the way History Professors talk about the Middle East, as a real place with a real history and heroes. Races live in Middle Earth, and they have culture and languages. And in the middle of momentous events are characters who you identify with and feel for, and you give them your hope.

Tolkien is dead, and I remember the day I learned this when I was very young. I was sad. He died a month before I was born, and so I didn't even get the privilege of sharing a year on the same earth. His passing was a great loss to this world.

There are four core books that you must read. Maybe not immediately, but you must read them before you die. And if you have children, then you should read The Hobbit to them as a story. Tolkien would like that.

The Hobbit was born as a series of bed-time stories that the Oxford Professor of Anglo-Saxon made up for his children. Evnetually, he wrote them down and was convinced to send the manuscript to a publisher. The rest is history.

The Lord of the Rings directly follows, but is distinct in it's scope and style from The Hobbit. There's not a lot I can say to describe these books that doesn't sound petty in comparison to the real thing. He spent most of his life writing these books. I can only say that they are some of the greatest ever written, and hundreds of thousands of people agree with me on this.

But, you must read them at the right time, or at least in the right frame of mind. You must read the Hobbit as a Child… with eyes full of wonder and a mouth full of questions. Please do. You will be glad.

read:
The Hobbit (or, There and Back Again)
The Lord of the Rings (which is made up of the following three books)
    The Fellowship of the Ring
    The Two Towers
    The Return of the King

and a few years later, read:
The Silmarillion.