Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from UNC Greensboro and a Public Librarian Certification. Megan has worked in a college bookstore and high school library, and she now loves talking books in the public library where she works and as a Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.
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
Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from UNC Greensboro and a Public Librarian Certification. Megan has worked in a college bookstore and high school library, and she now loves talking books in the public library where she works and as a Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree (Expected Publication November 11, 2025)
Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes includes both compelling fantasy creatures and some on-point appreciation of good food. This new adventure takes place in the same universe, but involves wider world adventuring outside of Baldree’s usual indoor settings. Like hobbits, the protagonist of this story is also an interesting fantasy creature, though in this case, a bookselling rattkin named Fern. After drinking a bit too much one night, Fern wakes up far from home amidst an eccentric new crew, including a chaos-goblin with a dangerous bounty.
The Baker and the Bard: A Cozy Fantasy Adventure by Fern Haught
This delightful graphic novel by Fern Haught includes a cozy bakery, questing, and a hobbit’s favorite food group: mushrooms! Juniper and Hadley stay busy between apprenticing at the bakery and playing music at an inn. When they get an unusual bakery order, though, they head out to find a mysterious mushroom and get drawn into an epic quest.
Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 1 by Ryoko Kui, Translated by Taylor Engel
In the vein of The Hobbit, dealings with dragons take center stage in this first volume of Ryoko Kui’s fantasy foodie manga. After Laios and his crew get attacked by a dragon down in a dungeon, they lose their supplies, along with a friend from their company! While debating how to save their buddy without any provisions, Laios suggests they eat the monsters they encounter while on their rescue mission!
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
While hobbits love their food, they also love their drinks, and they are definitely prone to some drunken shenanigans at times. Let’s not forget Frodo dancing on a table at The Prancing Pony. This entertaining fantasy romance by Kimberly Lemming finds Cinnamon saving an intoxicated demon named Fallon. As with hobbits, she’ll find herself caught up in an unexpected adventure to save Fallon’s people.
An Exchange of Gifts by Anne McCaffrey
While Anne McCaffrey is best known for her classic dragon book series, The Dragonriders of Pern, I picked up this under-the-radar fantasy novella by her recently and felt incredibly charmed by it. Just as the hobbits prefer a life of cozy cooking and gardening to power and titles, so too does Princess Meanne in this story. Fleeing her constricted court life, Meanne fakes her death, disappears into the forest, and begins making a humble new life for herself at an abandoned cottage. While the baking and gardening themes are extremely soothing, the theme of the simple life bringing true happiness is what reminded me the most of hobbits in this one.
Recipes From the World of Tolkien: Inspired By the Legends by Robert Tuesley Anderson
Speaking of fantasy worlds and cooking, I couldn’t pass up featuring this enchanting, Tolkien-inspired cookbook by Robert Tuesley Anderson. I think Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin would all agree that the best way to celebrate Hobbit Day is with some Middle-Earth munchies. Plus, the illustrations included throughout are lovely and make this book a solid addition to any LOTR fan’s bookshelf.
Before Your Next Quest…
As Tolkien would say concerning hobbits, “You have shown your usual cunning in getting up just in time for a meal.” I hope this Hobbit Day you enjoy more than one breakfast, a LOTR movie rewatch, and a Hobbit-themed book.
For those looking for more Hobbit reads, check out Book Riot’s The Hobbit archives, or these Magically Delicious Books for Fantasy Foodies! Happy Hobbit Day, Middle Earthers!
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