J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit

I feel a little like I read this out of order a bit. I picked up The Hobbit after I started The Lord of the Rings trilogy because I didn't realize that it too had been recorded by Andy Serkis. I thoroughly enjoyed his reading of the novel.

I had never read The Hobbit. I had only seen the Peter Jackson films. While I loved The Lord of the Rings, I found myself loving The Hobbit films less. From the community reactions to those films when they came out, I knew that Jackson had embellished the story. I finally dug into the novel to find out how much.

Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit: respectable, normal, and non-adventerous. Gandalf is a wizard who decides to change all of that. After meeting Bilbo in the Shire one morning, Gandalf secretly invites 12 dwarves to come to Bilbo's house. Once there, they discuss plans to reclaim their ancestral home: The Lonely Mountain. The Mountain is now home to Smaug, the dragon, and they need a burgler to help them find the dragon's weakness. Can Bilbo fill the job?

This is an exciting adventure tale. I love the way that Tolkien used this to introduce The Lord of the Rings and the world of Middle Earth. Bilbo's story is much different from Frodo's. Somehow, even though they're in constant danger, and many of the dwarves are killed in the end, the stakes of this story don't seem as high as Frodo's quest to destroy the ring. The lighthearted tone of the adventure make it a fun read.

I loved getting to know Bilbo and to see what Tolkien really wrote. This book has some violence and the language is still a bit academic, but Tolkien meant this for children. Still, I would say middle school or jr. high teens are probably ready to pick apart the complex language, and would enjoy this story. The upbeat nature, and lower stakes of the story make it less intense, and I think even upper elementary kids would enjoy the story with some assisstance with language depending on where they're at with reading.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Comments

Prince Harry: Spare

My coworkers were all reading this, and I have to say that I'm fascinated by the royal family, so I gave into temptation and listened to this on Audible. Listening to the audio book was totally the way to go, since Prince Harry reads it himself. Spare by Prince Harry is a heartbreaking memoir outlining Harry's treatment by the British tabloids. He outlines his experiences with the tabloids from the time his mother died until his departure from the royal family. This fascinating memoir gives an inside look into the workings of the royal family, and their relationships with the press. The memoir certainly makes it look as if all is not well in the house of Windsor, and attempts to set the record straight (from Harry's perspective) of what happened among the family members. Overall, I did enjoy this book. I loved the way Harry writes (and because I listened to it, the way he reads). I found his descriptions of events and places beautiful, and wish I could use it in AP! His p...

Brene Brown: Daring Greatly

Brene Brown is one of my favorite TED speakers of all time. I have listened to her TED talks numerous times and used them in my classroom each year. I love her message: that we can't have success, innovation, change, and creativity without first having vulnerability. I love that she is seeking to demystify vulnerability and teach what shame is and how it destroys our ability to accept ourselves and others. I am not normally into the self-help kind of books, but of the books I've read this year, this is one of my favorites! Daring Greatly by Brene Brown discusses the concepts of shame and vulnerability and how we need vulnerability, but not shame. She gives strategies for combating shame and becoming "shame resilient." She gives strategies to use as parents, teachers, friends, and spouses. For one thing, I love Dr. Brown's Texan accent (she narrates the audiobook herself! 💗). Her voice and personality are all throughout this book. She is not afraid to use persona...

Brandon Sanderson: The Lost Metal - Wax & Wayne (Mistborn Era 2) Book 4

I finally finished Mistborn era 2! I loved this series so much (though I think I love era 1 the most still). This story was an incredible addition to Scadrial's story. In this final installment, we pick up in Elendel at a time of great uncertainty. The outer cities are threatening war, their tentative alliance with the Malwish is falling apart over the Bands of Mourning, and Wax is still in the middle of all of it. Now serving on the senate, Wax is desperately trying to help the Elendel nobles maintain peace while hunting the Set. Unsuccessful thus far at locating his sister, the leader of the Set, Wax is still trying to uncover her plans. Can Wax, Marasi, and Wayne uncover the Set's plans before the invasion of Trell crushes Scadrial? This was a fitting conclusion for Mistborn's second era. I loved the character development we saw in each of the characters: Marasi, Wax, Wayne, and Steris. I love the involvement of some era 1 characters (one who I am not going to spoil), a...

Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

Search This Blog