Smoking pipes and furry feet

As a big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies I was very excited to read the hobbit. I had attempted in the past to try and read the Lord of the Rings trilogy but I couldn't get into it. There was a lot of walking and talking...and it didn't move fast enough for me. This book had a bit of that but the characters and great environmental descriptions kept me reading. I love fantasy novels, they are the books that I have loved all my life. Starting with simple fairy tales about princesses to stories of epic quests and massive battles.
The hobbit incorporated some of my favorite elements of fantasy stories. Such as the wise old wizard or sorcerer , Gandalf in The Hobbit, these dynamic characters are always my favorite. They posses such a feeling of mystery and power, and all of the other characters put a strong amount of trust in the wizard. He has a great knowledge that everyone assumes he posseses much more information than themselves on matters and tend to go along with what he says. They are often the character who sends the main character on his journey or adventure. Gandalf sets Bilbo on his adventure with the dwarves, he also later on in Lord of the Rings sends Frodo on his quest to destory the ring. In other books such as Harry Potter, the wise old wizard, Dumbledore, is encouraging Harry in his adventures and before his death leaves Harry his finally quest to destory the horcruxes. Characters such as Harry, Frodo, and Bilbo set off on these adventures that are much larger than themselves but due to the large amount of trust they have in the wizard they overcome all obstacles to complete the quest.
I also loved all of the different fantasy creatures that were incorporated into The Hobbit. Dwarves, wizards, goblins, hobbits, elves, and the list goes on. Tolkein created a completley different world than our own and completley immersed the reader in it. Which is one of my favorite aspects of fantasy and reading. It gives you a world to escape to when you need a break from your own. A good book in my mind can do that, help you escape from everything that is going on and run away into the book. And The Hobbit does that, you run away with Bilbo Baggins on his amazing adventure with the dwarves.