What is the best order in which to read the books?
This depends on each person’s personal preferences. Unless you strongly dislike stories written for children, most recommend reading /The Hobbit/ first. /The Lord of the Rings/ is certainly next (feel free to skip the Prologue if you find it dull, and after the main text try to read at least Appendix A.I.v, “The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen”). If you enjoy any part of the Appendices to LotR, there are things in Tolkien’s other books that you are likely to enjoy as well. Most suggest reading /The Children of Hurin/, /Unfinished Tales/, /The Silmarillion/, and /The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien/ next, in some order (perhaps that one). /The Children of Hurin/ is the only complete novel about Middle-earth published after Tolkien’s death (although it takes place long before the events of LotR, it probably isn’t necessary to read Silm. first). The stories and essays in UT can be read in any order, so the “Third Age” material is a good starting point for those coming straight from LotR (the “First A
