The Hobbit
By J.R.R. Tolkien
   

     The Hobbit has been identified as ‘The Enchanting prelude to the Lord of the Rings series,” though, personally, I find that a tad debatable. The Hobbit book is the prequel to the as mentioned LotR series, and focuses on Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit who is thrust into a quest of goblins, war, and even a dragon, as he adventures in the company of 13 dwarves and a wizard, Gandalf the Grey, who seek to reclaim the lost riches and rightful property of the dwarves from Lonely Mountain, obtained by the greedy reptilian Smaug (the dragon mentioned previously).
    

     Throughout their journey, the party is confronted with a variety of problems and encounters, such as meeting a merry yet ill-tempered skin changer, nearly being  burned alive and eaten by trolls, being captured by Wood Elves, and fighting their way out of goblin infested territory. Bilbo himself, during the latter event, happens to ‘find’ a peculiar ring in a dark cavern, which allows him the ability of invisibility upon wearing it, and it helps our hobbit protagonist several times during his quest, i.e. when he confronts Smaug. Our heroes, in the end, do succeed, but at a heavy cost (which I will not tell for your sake, never mind the fact I’ve detailed a quite a few plot events,).
    

      If you’re interested in the fantasy genre, I do suggest that you give this book a read, as I must agree that it’s certainly a short and fun novel. It is a work of J.R.R. Tolkien, after all, and this is assuming you haven’t read it yourself. I mean, it has Wizards, Elves, Dragons, and all the things of that like! All the core elements of a fantasy novel.
    

     That being said, I can’t really say that I’ve found the title as ‘compelling’ and ‘enchanting’ as it was said to be. One of the problems I have with it is the length. I’m the kind of person who likes to reads books that are well into 600+ pages, but The Hobbit only has about 279. For me, the events of the story came about really quickly, and had it not been a class project, I suspect I could have had it finished in two days. Forgive me if I sound like I’m bragging, as I do not intend to do so. And like I said, I didn’t find The Hobbit to be as engaging as I thought it would have been. That being said, I do like the book as a whole, and don’t let the problems I have with the book (which are meager and nitpicky, in all honesty) deter you from trying the book if you’re interested. Overall, The Hobbit is a nice read and it’s an easy recommendation to anyone in my book.