J.R.R. Tolkien discussion

Apart from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, thank you.

The Silmarillion

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien and the Great War by John Garth

Another vote for The Silmarillion

Tree and Leaf
Farmer Giles of Ham
Smith of Wootton Major
The Silmarillion
Unfinished Tales
( Any one of the above books would be good to read after reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. )

Tolkien and the Great War (mentioned already) is a great book but it will make more sense if you read The Silmarillion first, I think.

That's hard, but I would say The Hobbit. It's a great start to get into Tolkien.

Patricia wrote: "Apart from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, thank you."

As you seem already to have read the "Big Ones", I'd also suggest The Silmarillion, as it provides the world-building background of the other two books, especially LotR. However, as much as I personally love this book, many fans find it hardgoing, being almost entirely narrative with little dialogue, and written in an epic style. If that doesn't attract you, then The Children of Húrin might be a good alternative, as it's adapted from a Silmarillion episode, but in a more novelish style.

For something lighter (The Children of Húrin is dark!), then perhaps the poetry collection, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book might be more your taste. All of the poems have a direct or indirect connection with Middle-earth, Tolkien using the conceit that they are poems written by hobbits in The Shire, several attributed to Samwise Gamgee!

Stepping out of Middle-earth, I'm rather partial to the comic adventures of Farmer Giles Of Ham - it has a dragon! ☄🐲😁

It's time for The Silmarillion

Give the Silmarillion a try, and if you can't read it try it again, and if you still can't read it, try it again... (I forced my way through it the first time, but now I love it. It just takes some getting used to.)

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is the other finished work (published in Tolkien's life) set in Middle-earth. The annotated/expanded edition by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull is great.

After the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales is a great book, if at times maddeningly/heartbreakingly unfinished.

For more of Middle-earth, the Histories of Middle-earth series is fascinating (if you get bogged down in volumes 6-9a, aka the History of the Lord of the Rings, don't give up on the series, because 9b-12 are just as great as 1-5). The three "Great Tales" from the Silmarillion give a hint of what this is like in a much more readable format:
The Children of Hurin
Beren and Luthien
The Fall of Gondolin

The Nature of Middle-earth is an occasionally exhausting but always interesting exploration of Tolkien's thoughts on his greatest created world.

The Fall of Numenor is a compilation of all Tolkien's writings on the Second Age, fitting between the Silmarillion and the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It's redundant, but a great way to see the whole story in context.

Some great shorter books that reveal Tolkien's wit and imagination are:
Smith of Wooton Major
Farmer Giles of Ham
Roverandom
Mr. Bliss (thoroughly illustrated by the author himself)
The Father Christmas Letters
Leaf by Niggle

For an introduction to Tolkien's perspective on stories, legends, and language, you can't beat The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays. If that intrigues you, try
The Fall of Arthur
Beowulf (Tolkien's translation and commentary)
Sigurd and Gudrun
Aotrou and Itroun
Kullervo
Finn and Hengest (the hardest Tolkien book I've read, but it's short and the picture of philology at work is fascinating, so it's worth a try)

I would definitely recommend 'The Silmarillion', or, if you want something lighter, 'Leaf by Niggle' or 'Farmer Giles of Ham'.

I would recommend reading The Hobbit first. It was the first of Tolkien's books that I read.
-Annie

If you've read the Hobbit and the LOR and loved them, then your next step is undoubtedly the Silmarillion. It's a long, tough read, and your fingers will ache from flipping back and forth from the index of names, but by the end your mind will be thoroughly blown. Then you'll spend some time pondering what you've just read only to realize you probably only absorbed about half of it, so you'll go back and read it again later in the year :)

I'm surprised no one mentioned The Children of Húrin yet. It's short and beautiful, and a great, seamless introduction to middle-earth.

If you are finding reading Silmarillion difficult - you can try to listen the podcast: Before the Fellowship: Fans Read and React to the Silmarillion. Three fans basically read out Silmarillion section by section and also discuss. There is also another podcast Talking Tolkien: The Silmarillion. It might be easier to cover the book while listening to the podcast.

Apart from these, all his other works are dense. Some great audiobooks can help you read along (The Children of Hurin is narrated by Christopher Lee and must be one of the best reads of Tolkien). I'd start with a "complete" book like The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien or The Fall of Gondolin. Any other will be after you've read The Silmarillion (since they are different versions and fragments from the canon story). I hope it helps :)

I would start with the Fellowship of the Ring

A little bit different of an opinion XD

But I would recommend definitely starting with either the original trilogy (The Lord of the Rings) or The Hobbit. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and then The Return of the King. It's the best introduction to Middle Earth and the characters while still being easily digestible. Especially if you haven't read much of Tolkien previously. The Silmarillion is amazing, but it's pretty dense to start off on and can be intimidating the first time (at least it was for me)...
I found it more enjoyable to read after already having a love for and familiarity with The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, especially since The Silmarillion is a lot of history.

From there, you can branch into reading The Silmarillion. Tea With Tolkien has an amazing reader's guide and lots of cool resources in general for understanding Tolkien's works. His short story, Leaf by Niggle is also wonderful.
After you read Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion, I would honestly read what you are most drawn to! A few suggestions are The Children of Hurin, Beren and Luthien, The Fall of Gondolin, and Tales of the Perilous Realm ;)
Hope that helps!

Here's the website mentions: https://www.teawithtolkien.com

I have a similar question I have read the hobbit, lord of the rings trilogy, and the children of Hurin. What should U read next?

I would suggest The Silmaralion

I would start with The Hobbit. Next would be The Lord of The Rings.

I've read the hobbit and lotr but I am wondering, what's the sillmarian about

Its about the First and Second Age. Some sample stories include Berien and Luthien, Of The Making Of The Rings Of Power, Of The Coming Of The Elves, etc.