Sevenses: 7 Hobbit-Themed Books for Hobbit Day

This year, I’ve taken on a fun summer reading challenge: reading all three of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books. While my dad read aloud The Hobbit to my brothers and me when we were kids, and I later read The Fellowship in middle school, I hadn’t read Tolkien beyond that. Since June, though, I’ve finished The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, and now I’m in the thick of The Return of the King. Gandalf and Pippin have just rescued Faramir, and Aragorn has arrived in Gondor, so things are getting real! But I digress.

Hobbit Day takes place every year on September 22nd. Having reread The Fellowship, I now know this is because that day is Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthdays. As a side note, it’s also my son’s birthday, and I couldn’t be more pleased that he shares his day with such literary icons. With Hobbit Day approaching, it’s the perfect time to read some Hobbit-themed books! While The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series offer epic fantasy quests, I instead choose fantasy books that remind me of the hobbits themselves. They’re such affable characters, and I wanted to celebrate those qualities we all love within them.

With this in mind, I selected books that celebrate the second breakfasters and unlikely heroes. Fantasy food and drink, along with light adventures and endearing friendship themes take the spotlight in these reads. I hope reading them will inspire you to live more like a hobbit, if not always, then at least on Hobbit Day!

7 Hobbit-Themed Books for Hobbit Day

Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim Fantasy adventures combined with good food are my kind of hobbit-themed story. This new book by Roselle Lim draws inspiration from Chinese and Southeast Asian folklore and features a world where the Gods host a cooking competition every generation called the Celestial Banquet. Noodle-chef Cai enters the contest in the hope of opening her own restaurant and helping her small town peninsula. Before long, she’ll soon find herself caught up in increasingly difficult fantasy food escapades, alongside a cast of eccentric chefs.

All Access subscribers, continue on for more books that will remind you of the Hobbitses