Lord of the Readalong 2020 discussion

You made it to the end! Woohoo!!

How did you like this book? Any quotes stand out to you? Any surprises? How did you like Bilbo Baggins? Did your like/dislike of him change as the story went on? How did you find the pacing? What rating will you give this book?

I gave it 3 stars. I liked the quote about the morning. The passing of kili and Fili surprised and saddened me. I loved Bilbo! Loved him more and more as I read. The book was a little slow and drawn out to me.

5 stars 😁 had to read past bedtime so says enough I think. Really enjoyed it! Looking forward to the trilogie now

I have about 20-30 pages I thought the deaths were glossed over a bit. I’m thinking 4 stars at this point

I gave it 3 stars. I found it a bit slow. My favorite character was actually Smaug, who I wanted to be in the book for much longer. that portion was by far my favorite!

I gave the book 5 stars. One quote that stood out to me was Thorin saying to Bilbo, " If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
I felt bad for Bilbo when he finally made it back to Bag-End only to find his belongings being auctioned off, (all different forms of greed being a theme throughout his journey) and that his reputation suffered because of his adventure, he wanted to come home so badly and I found it sad that things were so different at home for him when he returned. He left Bag-End and returned a different person to a home changed and a community that regarded him differently. I was glad to read he was happy to the end of his days. Bilbo really did make the best of any situation! I enjoyed the read immensely.

I ended up giving it 3 stars. I thought the ending was a little rushed. And I thought the dragon played a bigger part. But did like how Bilbo seemed to be more confident by the end.

For me it's a 4 star book. Bilbo became a much more likeable character as the book went along and his actions in an attempt to put an end to the stalemate was commendable and brave.

The whole part with Smaug and Lake-Town was over before it even really began. This can be put down to the time it was written but I actually wanted more detail here as well as the battle at the end.

Given the book is called The Hobbit I understand that Bilbo is the one who we got to know the best but for me to care about the losses suffered I needed to know more about them other than their names. That said I was glad that Frodo and Thorin had a moment to reconcile their differences before his passing. I may not have agreed with his methods but I understood and respected his reasoning for his actions and to see him understand the errors in his judgment was a nice end to his story.

Those who have seen the movies could be a little confused about the ring. It's nothing more than a glorified Macguffin to get Bilbo out of tight spots. There really is no mention of it's hold over its wearer apart from with Golem and even then it's pretty much guess work as we're told he refers to himself as "My Precious" and is simply angry at the loss of the Ring. Given that Tolkien revised The Hobbit to accommodate events in The Lord of The Rings I would have liked at least a sampling of the hold it has over Bilbo.

All in all a good book but not perfect. Given that this is a children's book I can forgive the lack of details at times but as someone who likes lots of detail about the world and characters I'm reading about I'd have liked more. I'm told this becomes more prevalent in the Lord of the Rings and I look forward to seeing where the story goes from here.

Overall I really liked this book. Bilbo was a very endearing and relatable character, sort of an unwilling or at least unlikely hero since at the beginning he was not courageous or adventurous, more of a homebody you could say.
I enjoyed the characters and the vivid descriptions in some scenes such as Blbo's meeting with Smaug and the spider scene. However, near the end I felt that the description was a bit much and the story could have used more action. I still found it enjoyable, but not fabulous. This will be a 3 star read for me. Looking forward to continuing this readalong.

Just finished. I’m giving it 5 stars. I thought it was brilliant. I feel like if this was written today...it would be lower. I wanted a big bloody battle scene at the end like the movies, but that’s not how this was written so I’m trying to appreciate it for what it is.

My favorite chapters were the ones with Gollum and Smaug. I had forgotten that when he has the ring on, he can understand animals and talk to them. That was cool!

Overall I thought it was great, creative, and kept me entertained the whole time.

5 stars. I noticed that a lot of people commented here that a lot of people wanted the dragon to be a bigger part. I can understand that, but I would suggest thinking about this book within the time it was written. the book was published in 1937. It was late '36 when Hitler Mussolini and Hirohito formed the Axis. It was '37 when Italy left the League of Nations and Japan invaded China. England and Germany were in a massive arms buildup and the world was on the brink of World War 2.

With that in mind, I think the point of this book for JRRT was found in the stupid demands and misunderstandings that led up to the War of Five Armies as well as the point that some others mentioned how greed, throughout the book, kept leading people into trouble.

Finished just in time!
I love it. I think it is brilliant and Tolkien will always be my favorite author.
I know some others were talking about wanting more battles or dragon development, which would be kind of nice, but I think some of the beauty of Tolkien Is his world building, and the sort of laid-back adventure of it. if I want to read of bloody battles I will read game of thrones. :-P

I gave this 4 stars! I loved it, but would have liked a bit more character growth during the book. I did like that Thorin forgives Bilbo at the end before he dies, but other than that there wasn't a lot of development regarding the characters. The telling of the war could have been longer and I would have liked that, but since it is a children's book it is more appropriate. The ending where he comes home to an auction is such a funny way to end the book! I really liked that.

I'm so glad that I decided to give this book another try after my 7th grade English class reading flop. I gave this book 4 stars. I truly enjoyed the adventure, but I do agree with others that the ending seemed so rushed.

I´m giving it four stars. And I like Bilbo is whom are the cleverest one in the whole book, even if he have changes when he return home, and the other are a bit afraid of him. But Bilbo himself I think do the best of the situation.

This is the first time I’d read the Hobbit. I agree with others that it was a bit slow. I enjoyed the book just the same. I’d give it a 5.

Finished the book during the weekend. I like it more this time than I did the first time. Bilbo really goes on a journey and he is a different hobbit when he returns home. I still give this book 3 stars, but it's a lot closer to 4.

Rereading this book has been so enjoyable. Even after watching all the movies multiple times I had forgotten some of the events. I especially liked the interaction between Bilbo and Gollum as well as Bilbo and Smaug. The way he used riddles was brilliant. Definitely a ☆☆☆☆☆

I gave it 3 stars. I can see why it's a classic, but I think it is clear that this was written for his children. The "bad" things, like death and battles, were glossed over, although part of the journey of life, so...
The journey itself is the star of the book, maybe more so than the characters themselves. The journey enabled the world building, and what world building it is! Every turn brings about a whole new world and I'm not the only "child" who felt like I was part of this band of travelers.