#ireadthehobbitthismonth

Yeah, you read that right. I'm finally committing to a monthly book review. AND I'm going to allow you all to help me. :D
But first, before you get all excited, let me tell you how this is going to work (hopefully)...
First, I'm going to try to read more than one book a month. ;)
Then, towards the end (like the second to last week or something like that) I'm going to give you the list of books I've read during that month plus some other things that have nothing to do with this post, so ignore the crossed out words. You heard me...stop reading it right now!
Next is where you all come in. You are going to pick a title from the list of books I read and then I'll write a review of the most popularly voted for book at the end of the month.
Does any of that make sense??

Now, on to the first monthly review. (I already promised to make a review on Tolkien's "The Hobbit", so sorry, no list of books this month. I think you'll live. ;)

The red book is the version of "The Hobbit" that I read this month. Dad has all those books out in his study, and I'm hoping to read "The Silmarillion" soon. It's like the history book of Tolkien's imaginary world.

My Review: (warning: review may and probably does contain spoilers)
Let me begin by stating the obvious: Tolkien's book, "The Hobbit" is awesome. I could end the review right there, but I will continue by telling y'all WHY I think it's an awesome book:

The Characters: Tolkien is a master of creating believable, and sometimes lovable (in the hobbits' case) characters. Each one he brings into a story are unique, original, and just plain fun. Here are some of my favorite characters from "The Hobbit":
Bilbo Baggins: A hobbit who is content with his lot in life...until a wizard shows up on his doorstep and throws him into a chaotic adventure by dubbing him "The Burglar" and the fourteenth person in a mostly dwarf party of treasure/revenge seekers. Eventually Bilbo resigns himself to his new position and helps the dwarves throughout their journey, with the help of a magical ring.
Gandalf: The wizard responsible for dragging Bilbo into the scariest, but best adventure in his lifetime. Though sometimes absent from the party of adventurers, he can usually be found somewhere nearby when they most need his help, just waiting to help them from their tight spot.
Dorie: I wanted to choose just one of the thirteen dwarves, and it was hard to narrow it down, since I like all the dwarves for different reasons. However, I finally chose Dorie, because I always had a soft spot for him in my heart. He's the one who tries to keep an eye on poor Bilbo who always seems to be getting left behind, or not noticed until last minute. Probably the most compassionate dwarf by far, and sticks up for the hobbit when everyone else won't.
The Eagles: Not only are eagles cool as a general rule, but these eagles help get the dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo (who almost got left behind but managed to save himself by grabbing onto poor Dorie's legs) from a very tight spot indeed when even Gandalf was at a loss to save them all. Besides, the eagles are the symbol of the American's in the book. (Though, you can tell Tolkien had a bit of a grudge against them: only swooping in to save the day at the last minute...when they could have come a lot sooner and saved a bunch of lives, and mostly kept to themselves. A bit uppity and full of themselves if you know what I mean.)
Bard: He gets the honor and prestige of killing Smaug. And besides, he's a good ruler and tries his best to use reason...which is more than I can say for Thorin.
I could name some other awesome characters (Elrond ad Beorn come to mind), but for lack of time, I'll skip them this time around. After all, if I ever do a book review of "Lord of the Rings", Elrond will DEFINITELY make it into that one. So.

The Plot:
"The Hobbit" is a classic tale of adventure, plot-wise. A humble hero sent on a long journey who does many wonderful, exciting things until he gets THERE, then faces a great danger, defeats it, and comes BACK. However, this hero has the help of thirteen hefty dwarves and a wizard...which is more than most heroes can say. ;) However, even with all that help, he often strays and gets lost, though one of those times turns out to actually be helpful in a weird, twisted way because he finds a magical ring which has the ability to turn him invisible. He saves the dwarves from a suspicious Elfish king, huge spiders, and even a terrible dragon named Smaug the Magnificent. He is present during the Battle of the Five Armies, and still makes it safely home to his beloved round green door and full pantries.

The Setting(s):
It begins in the rolling green hills of The Shire, then on through forests, Elfish kingdoms, more forests, tunnels in mountains, more forests, another Elfish kingdom, a river, another forest, a town, a forest, and another mountain. (Did I mention forests? Well, there's a lot of them in this book. Just saying.) My favorite setting is The Shire, mostly because I love all things bright and green and sunshiny...which things usually are in the hobbits' country. My second favorite is probably a tie between Elrond's Rivendell, and Beorn's home. (After all, his animals are pretty awesome...)
The worst setting, for me, is Mirkwood...though the tunnels of the goblins are ALMOST as bad. The spiders are simply awful. After all, spiders and me have had a long and terrible history. They bite me, and scare startle me, I kill them and probably paralyze them with all my shrieking. However, I always feel somewhat nervous in underground , dark places, so they're about equal.

Have you ever read "The Hobbit"? If so, what did you think? (If not, READ IT NOW!) Ahem.
Which dwarf was YOUR favorite?
Do you think Elrond or Beorn is more awesome?
Eagles or ravens?
Are the goblins or wargs more evil?

Oh, and before I sign off, here's an amusing take on the "Top Ten Villains" tag that my sister Margaret did. Who would have thought that Baloo (from The Jungle Book), Master Oogway (from Kung Fu Panda), Olaf (from Frozen), Goldilocks (from Goldilocks and the Three Bears), and Pippen (from Lord of the Rings), were all villains? Read her post, and you will be enlightened. ;)