What order should I read the Tolkien collection in?

[Slightly Fruity]

I've read The Hobbit already and I'm working my way through Lord of the Rings now...so after that, which books of his should I read? (Children of Hurin, Histories of Middle Earth, etc.)

If you don't know...don't answer. Simple concept that few seem to understand.

[[Cresenne]]

The Silmarillion, then Unfinished Tales and HoMe. Basically publication order.

[[Ren The Ryoko]]

You plan on actually reading the Silmarillion? Best of luck.

[Eldarwen Half-Elven]

[Ren The Ryoko]

You plan on actually reading the Silmarillion? Best of luck.

It helps to be older to read it, actually. I enjoyed it.

[Sage Edwin the Tactician]

Silmarillion, then Children of Hurin (which is a more in depth version of a very interesting tale within the Sil'), then unfinished tales. THEN if your a real nerd, you'll want to read the histories of middle-earth.

Basically though, if you could only read one more Tolkien book in your lifetime, read the silmarillion, its hard if your young, but its epic.

[Cluck Girl]

The Silmarillion next, if you want to read it. Personally I lvoe it, but it puts some people off all of Tolkien's works.

[Gersemi of Erebor]

[Cresenne]

The Silmarillion, then Unfinished Tales and HoMe. Basically publication order.

What she said. That's how I read them all.

[IDEK92]

[Cresenne]

The Silmarillion, then Unfinished Tales and HoMe. Basically publication order.

This

[Laura Vandemar]

I still haven't bothered with the Book of Lost tales and all that HoME stuff.

Instead, I recommend, after the Silmarillion:

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
Farmer Giles of Ham
Roverandom
The Father Christmas Letters
On Fairy-Stories
*Leaf By Niggle
The homecoming of Beornoth (not sure if that's how it was spelled)
The Lays of Beleriand
Mr Bliss

The order doesn't matter for most of this lot, they're separate stories in different worlds, but broadly speaking the same universe. Leaf By Niggle marked with a * because it should be read after reading the essay called 'On Fairy-Stories*.

[Ayamae Akahana]

Eldarwen Half-Elven

[Ren The Ryoko]

You plan on actually reading the Silmarillion? Best of luck.

It helps to be older to read it, actually. I enjoyed it.

I have to admit, I'm 17 and it stumped me a little at times. I had to go back and re-read some of it to fully understand it. It's just extremely detailed. And it really didn't help that I had already read the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I would've preferred to read the Silmarillion first so that I got all the back story and then read The Hobbit, and then Lord of the Rings. Thankfully, it all fell into order as I read on. ^.^

[Jungle Boots]

i love the simarillion... i would say after lord of the rings you aught to read the simarillion...

the simarillion is more of a synopsys of a collection of stories pre-dating the hobbit. and personally its best chapters and stories are included in a more expanded and detailed version in stories such as the children of Hurin and the unfinished tales. It helps understand even further the word at which the lord of the rings happened in/after. and it also is a very nice taste of the wonderful stories that become the children of hurin and beren and luithien.

i had to reread the simarillion alot... but i came to love it so much that i savored rereading many of the chapters and looking back to remember names and lineages (because there are alot)

there definately requires a higher degree of nerdyness to read the simarillion than there is in the hobbit and lotr... but i thin if you can manage its well worth it.

[yellow magic orchestra]

after the hobbits and lotr i read the tales, then the children of hurin. i tried to read silmarillion but... i failed. i will try after a few years, maybe im still too stupid to understand.

[femboyfatale]

Tolkien wrote a lot outside his Middle Earth Saga that is definitely worth reading. In addition to what Laura Vandemar listed I would add, if you're really into Tolkien, his heroic poem The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun and his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tolkien was greatly interested in and influenced by Germanic and Finnish mythology as well as Anglo-Saxon literature, and I found that my appreciation for his work was greatly enhanced by a study of these texts. I would recommend Beowulf, The Elder Edda, The Volsung Saga, and The Kalevala. I'll end this with a final recommendation for a look at David Day's Guide to Tolkien's World: A Bestiary which is a kind of encyclopaedic work with entries on everything to do with Middle Earth and lots of illustrations. This will especially help you keep track of things when making your way through The Silmarillion.