Book Reveiw - The Hobbit

Title: The Hobbit (Or There and Back Again)
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Series: Middle Earth
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Release Date: 7th November 2013 (this version)
Originally Published: 1937

Synopsis
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 the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon…

My Review
That's right, I had never read The Hobbit before. Apparently this was very shocking! I saw the first 2 Lord of the Rings films as a child and really didn't like them, i think i was too young for them and just wasn't into that thing at the time, but because of that I had avoided the series from then on. But as I have grown my tastes have changed and I love a good fantasy novel, after many lengthy conversations with friends and colleagues at the library I decided I should try it. Plus the 3rd film is about to come out and it looke kind of cool and my boyfriend wanted to see it so I thought I would try the book and then if I liked it I would watch the films.
I was warned that the story is quite slow, so I didn't expect amazing things but I actually found myself settling into it quite well and coming to like Bilbo. He's quite quirky, a bit sarcastic and to be honest, a bit cute. He's very stuck in his ways and can be grumpy but he has a certain charm to his personality that you can't help but like. 
When a strange man turns up at his door and proclaims himself to be the great wizard Gandalf, Bilbo is polite but not willing to engage in talk or adventure, so when a group of 13 dwarfs turn up on his doorstep the next day Bilbo is in for a surprise. 
The dwarfs have a quest, to reclaim the treasure hoard kept by Smaug the dragon and they need a 14th member to their group, and Gandalf has selected Bilbo to be that person.
We then follow as Bilbo grudgingly joins them on the quest but slowly starts to discover things about himself and the world. I actually rather enjoyed following the group on their journey and discovering all the new areas, problems, foes and friends. This book also crosses over as a children's book and it has that sense of ease in reading that sweeps you through the story.
The dwarfs all have very distinct personalities and I enjoyed reading about them all and how they work within the group, my favourite were Fili and Kili - they had great sense of humour!
I can't believe I left it so long without reading this, and I will definitely be moving on to the LOTR series.

My Rating