In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. -- The Hobbit
Oxford academic and philosopher J R R Tolkien, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon language and English language and literature. This is strongly reflected in his best known works The Hobbit and the three-volume The Lord of the Rings. Published after his death with editing by his son Christopher Tolkien, The Silmarillion is also set in the land of Middle Earth.
The Hobbit was written by Tolkien for his children. Although Bilbo Baggins makes an appearance in The Lord of the Rings, it is an altogether darker work, an epic battle between the forces of good and evil, some see it as an analogy of Christianity.
I have registered The Hobbit (see BCID 5218588) and The Children of Húrin (see BCID 5218593) as BookCrossing books.