I had the original hard backs growing up. Moved too many times so got sold eventually. Same with all of my Star Wars figures and ships. Spewing I sold them in a garage sale back in the 80s.

Man, I've had The Hobbit and all three LOTR books in so many forms over the years since I first read them in 6th grade. Read the Silmarillion probably late high school/early A&M years. The Unfinished Tales and one or two other books I found a lot later in life - late 30s or early 40s.

Currently? I have a big ol LOTR hardcover book, and a Silmarillion paperback .*

* - might have leant this to my stepson a few years ago.

Edit to confirm absence of Silmarillion but still have Unfinished Tales on the big bookshelf.

Quincey P. Morris said:

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I didn't read Lord of the Rings for the first time until I was almost 30. I loved the movies and then finally a good decade later sat down and read the books.

That's actually one of the reasons I think being against film adaptations is silly. There's plenty of people like me that probably never would have ended up reading the books had it not been for that introduction.

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I took the same approach to reading these books, in that I was already mid-30s when I first tried to read them. That was right after the first movie was released. Didn't take. Couldn't get into the names that I was reading in those first few pages. Returned the book to the library. Then flash forward to about a decade later when the first Hobbit movie was being made. I'd read that as a kid, but picked it up again and had no problem breezing through it. Then I went back to the trilogy, of which I now had the mass-market paperbacks, and found those to be an easier read then. Those 3 books rank among the best I've ever read.

Got a new illustrated hobbit for Christmas last year. It's very cool.

I have that same green leather version of The Hobbit you have and also have the larger red leather version of LOTR.

I've got a hardback set of Lord of the Rings, but I might end up grabbing that single volume at some point.

I need to pick up a Silmarillion at some point.

I scour abebooks.com for stuff. Occasionally you run across some really cool books for decent prices.

I have my dad's childhood copy of the hobbit, still barely hanging on in a ripped cover. I smile whenever I look at it on the book case.

My wife recently grabbed this parody Lord of the Rings at Half Price Books. Don't know that I'll ever read it, but it was worth a chuckle.

Have the full history of Middle Earth. A couple of the early ones (lay of leithian most notably) in paperback so working to upgrade them.

I read the books twice before watching the movies. The movies were disappointing. That's always the case for me when I read the books first. Great movies, but a different perspective than the books.

I've been re-reading the same paperback of LOTR over and over for a little over 20 years. I pick it up off and on.

It's just a mass market paperback that came out right before the movies in fall 2001. Bought it from the MSC bookstore.

I've had the book so long and been through it so often that I'm attached to it. I'm a bit more attached to the bookmark. It's a notecard from an outfit meeting my fish year. A couple of barely legible notes and my spot in the drill for one of the games.

Early edition copies of The Hobbit and LOTR are high on my list of stuff I'd buy with stupid money.

I really need to go back and re-read LOTR. It's really what started me down my lifelong path of nerddom. That and Star Wars being the first movie I ever saw and at a drive-in.

I read it at least once a year and find new appreciation every time.

Recently finished reading the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy aloud to my son. It was a lot of fun. Reading it aloud forced me to slow down and take in more of the details. Also Tolkien talks about geography and foliage A LOT.

Did you read and sing the Elvish parts?

Not being snippy. I'm genuinely curious.

I read them like a poem. Tried my best at the pronunciations anyway.

Read LOTR twice and Silmarillion once in college.

Just finished the audiobook LOTR and can't recommend it enough. The voice actor is great and his British accent makes you feel like you're getting a first person account.

Also just finished The Fall of Numenor audiobook also great.

Next on the list is the Silmarillion audiobook read by Andy Serkis.

I had a problem with falling asleep while reading at night. Now I fall asleep with an AirPod in one ear listening to stuff. Thank God for the sleep timer.

What narrator did you have for LOTR? Recently downloaded the Andy Serkis versions.

Do you have a recommendation on a nice hard bound version of the LOTR / Hobbit books that is not printed on glossy pages? I bought a set not too long ago but the glossy pages are less than ideal.

Rob Inglis is the narrator. Old British dude that sounds like Tolkien himself is reading.

I appreciated ingles and his history with the media, but I love what andy serkis did.

shaynew1 said:

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I appreciated ingles and his history with the media, but I love what andy serkis did.

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I would assume he did Gollum's voice?

Nm. I hate this app. You can't tell what thread you are on.

YouBet said:

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shaynew1 said:

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I appreciated ingles and his history with the media, but I love what andy serkis did.

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I would assume he did Gollum's voice?

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He did a great job with every character. It's my favorite iteration of Aragorn.

ETA: yes he did gollums voice from the film

Yeah he was almost doing impressions of the other actors from the movies - I loved the performance. And his singing was surprisingly great.