Jennifer Gorham

Adventure. A word used to describe an unusually exciting or perilous journey. Now imagine that back in 1937, a 45 year old man published a book that created a world so distinct that he could write two separate adventures in it without them overlapping seemingly at all. The Hobbit may not start off very interesting, with people nowadays expecting something to happen right away. But no. The first line is,"In a hole in a ground there lived a hobbit." Tolkien doesn't stop to describe what a hobbit is, but jumps into describing the hobbit's hole quite thoroughly. That is a theme that stays throughout this story: Describing something and creating very vivid imagery. Bilbo Baggins, this stories main character, is a hobbit. Hobbits are creatures that love eating and don't tend to get involved with any conflict. The one exception, it seems, are the Tooks, who seem to get caught up in all sorts of trouble. Bilbo's mother was a Took, and the adventurous blood in him gets him involved in a journey that will change his life. I would recommend this book to 12 and above, maybe read as young as ten if you are a strong reader. This is easily a five-star rating to go along with Tolkien's Mona Lisa: None of his other books can stand alongside this one. Also, if you like this book, I suggest trying out: The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis(Age 9+) The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien(Age 13+) The Inheritance Cycle/Eragon by Christopher Paolini(Age 13+) Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan(Age 8+) Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan(Age 9+) Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan(Age 9+) The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan(Age 10+) Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan(Age 13+) These all feature great adventures, although some are more focused on certain mythologies than others (looking at you, everything by Rick Riordan). Highly recommend those, but the Hobbit is the best of everything I've mentioned. Pick up this book, you won't regret it.

This book is the pure embodiment of a no-joke, serious adventure that will keep you reading until you're done. Eragon starts off as a farm boy, one of the few people who dares to venture into the Spine, a mountain range that people think is cursed. But all this changes when he finds a beautiful round stone in a portion of the forest that had been burned. The stone ends up hatching into a dragon, and Eragon becomes a dragon rider, a league of elves, men, and dragons that kept Algaesia safe, but were thought to be extinct. Every part of this book is a delight to read, and you will find yourself coming back to the book over and over. I give this book an EASY five out of five.