For devoted Tolkien fans...

Vote for the Sillmarilion it's an amzaing story and the Noldor's elves story are fascinanting.

My recommendation for Tolkien newbies:

1. The Hobbit (easiest to read)
2. Lord of the Rings
3. The Silmarillion (explains how the world was created and tells what happened before LotR)

I am glad a few people actually voted for the Silmarillion - to make a movie out of this will be the ultimate achievement, much harder than LOTR...

Lord of the Rings clearly is his crowning achievement. Nevertheless every serious Tolkien fan should read the Silmarillion, too. IMO it's a fascinating idea about how the world might have been created. It's even likened to composing music, with Morgoth (originally called Melkor) representing chaos and dissonance (which today would most likely be Extreme Metal).

Edited by Mr ProgFreak - June 10 2009 at 04:42

THE CHILDREN OF HURIN

The first Tolkien book I was old enough to properly understand, and indeed, one of the best I've ever read.

For the past five years I have been almost constantly in the middle of a Tolkien book because I have a bad habit of reading multiple books at a time and sometimes forget/ don't feel like finishing one of them, it's almost as annoying as my habit of not using bookmarks and trying to remember what page I am on. 

I absolutely love Tolkien, I like tLotR more than the Silmarillion, maybe a reread would change that though. I was amazed by some of the stories in the Silmarillion, they are some of the best I have ever read, but I like tLotR partially for the larger volume of the story, it allows more to unfold. I love The Hobbit too, but the different writing style is harder for me to get into at first.

I like the original animated The Hobbit movie, if only for the nostalgia.

Lord of the Rings truly the first of the modern adult fantasy epics. He really did inspire so many to delve farther into the genre most thought to be only kids stories and use our imaginations more. I read it for the first time in the early 70's in high school. Hmm great music, Tolkien and what was that funny green plant?

I am a big Tolkien fan, and have also published a few articles about his work, as well as edited and partly translated the Italian edition of three of the most important scholarly books on him. That said, my favourite work of his is The Lord of the Rings, a real treasure trove of everything that is good about literature - in spite of all the venom so many 'ivory tower' critics have spewed on it since its first publication. The Hobbit would be my choice as a runner-up: it may be 'only' children's literature, but it is a masterpiece in its own right.

The Hobbit movies are indeed  in the early stages of pre poduction.