Tolkien Fandom started with the books and these are the source of almost all other works.
The Main Books
Many people only read these two books and go no further. The are the most well known, complete and readable to the public. The are all set in a fantasy world called Middle Earth.
The Hobbit
A children’s fantasy novel set in Middle-earth and follows home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit of the title, who joins the wizard Gandalf and the thirteen dwarves of Thorin’s Company, on a quest to reclaim the dwarves’ home and treasure from the dragon Smaug. Bilbo’s journey takes him from his peaceful rural surroundings into more sinister territory. It was publishing in 1937
The Lord of the Rings
A sequel to The Hobbit, this starts our with a similar tone but quickly becomes a deeper work. The story ranges across Middle-earth, following the quest to destroy the One Ring, seen mainly through the eyes of the hobbits Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. Aiding Frodo are the Wizard Gandalf, the Men Aragorn and Boromir, the Elf Legolas, and the Dwarf Gimli, who unite in order to rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth against the Dark Lord Sauron’s armies and give Frodo a chance to destroy the One Ring. It was originally publish as three books in 1954 and 1955.
Recommended Reading for Tolkien Fans
If you have read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and are interested in reading more books by Tolkien and about his worlds then have a look at the list below and the following guides
Other Middle Earth Books
The following a books that were published after Tolkien’s death and edited by his son Christopher. They contain collections of stories and essays, some of which may be fragmentary or even different versions of each story.
Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth
A collection of stories and essays from various ages of Middle Earth
The Silmarillion
A Collection of Myths from the distant past of Middle Earth. Much of it is more like the Bible or the Greek Myths than a modern book.
The Children of Húrin
Beren and Lúthien
The Fall of Gondolin
These are stories for the Silmarillion that have been editing and published as separate books.
Non-Middle Earth Books
The best known of Tolkien’s other writings are
Leaf by Niggle
An allegory of Tolkien’s own creative process, it also expresses his philosophy of divine creation and human sub-creation.
Smith of Wootton Major
The story of a blacksmith who roams to the Land of Faery
Farmer Giles of Ham
A comic medieval fable about the encounters between Farmer Giles and a wily dragon named Chrysophylax, and how Giles manages to use these to rise from humble beginnings to rival the king of the land
The Father Christmas Letters
A series of stories for Children. The stories are told in the format of a series of letters, told either from the point of view of Father Christmas or his elvish secretary. They document the adventures and misadventures of Father Christmas and his helpers, including the North Polar Bear
Books about the writing of the Middle Earth Books
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien
Several hundred letters that Tolkien wrote during his lifetime. The letters are of interest both for what they show of Tolkien’s life and for his interpretations of his Middle-earth writings.
The History of Middle Earth
A 12-volume series of books that collect and analyse much of J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium, compiled and edited by his son Christopher Tolkien. The series shows the development over time of Tolkien’s conception of Middle-earth as a fictional place with its own peoples, languages, and history, from his earliest notions of “a mythology for England” through to the development of the stories that make up The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings.