Back a few years ago a friend of a friend told me about a set of books that where very cool and to his liking, I was interested so he told me to look up The Hobbit and see if I liked it.
I loved it, the whole thing about Hobbits as heros was slightly comical, and the Dwarfs where a riot.
I wish now that I had time enough to read The Hobbit again, it is a truly astounding book.
This was the first step into Middle Earth for me and it was a memorable one with Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf the wizard.