The Hobbit
J.R.R. Tolkien
53 people recommended it in 28 threads, 2007–2024.
What people on Hacker News said
It reads aloud very well and that inspired me to start rereading LoTR (for the O(n * umpteen)th time and it's the literary equivalent of a 200 slide slide deck...but I digress.
I re-read The Hobbit every year. I never seem to get sick of it.
The book I have re-read the most is The Hobbit. It is comfort food to me.
The selection might seem trite, but I suspect that there wasn't a book with bigger impact on me than Hobbit, for very simple reason. It made me into voracious reader, put me on a path of reading, actually reading.
Great story that got me into the LOTR. Shorter than LOTR and hence why I put that on this list. Also about being brave I suppose.
The Hobbit was important for me too. I wouldn't have read it without the C64 adventure game (same with Color of Magic). I was probably only around 7 years old so it was a big book and took me a while to get through and kicked off a love of reading.
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