I want to read them all.

I currently have the Harper Collins deluxe versions of the books also!

I find the Reading Order list on the Tolkien Society to be useful.

https://www.tolkiensociety.org/author/faq/#order

Thank you, it's really appreciated!

Yes-- go with publication order!

By the way, the list at the Tolkien Society site omits one book that you might want to look at. Between The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and The Silmarillion there was The Road Goes Ever On. Now most of that book is the music Donald Swann wrote for several of JRRT's poems, and that's not likely to interest readers who (like me) don't read music. However, there are a few pages by Tolkien giving translations from Elvish. While we waited, back in the day, for The Silmarillion -- never really certain that it would be published -- we cherished bits of lore such as are found here. You might want to get The Road Goes Ever On from the library after you read The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. We also were happy to get a couple of further poems by JRRT in a paperback anthology called The Young Magicians, edited by Lin Carter. If libraries bought that one at all, many of the copies will have worn out by now. Still, you might be able to get it on interlibrary loan. The two poems are "Once Upon a Time," a further poem with "Tom" -- presumably Bombadil, and a humorous piece called "The Dragon's Visit." These are not things you "have to" read, but if you want to replicate the experience of being a Tolkien addict back when he was still alive, as well as to enjoy them for their own sakes, these two books might be worth getting hold of. I wouldn't be surprised if the two poems from The Young Magicians are available elsewhere, too -- someone here will help with that. Lastly, there was a JRRT poem, "Bilbo's Last Song (at the Grey Havens)," which was published in poster form, before The Silmarillion was published at last in 1977. I imagine that wouldn't be hard to find reproduced online.

Happy reading to you. How great to be setting out on this journey! Best wishes from a Tolkien reader since 1967.

These are the major publications such as you’d find—with some variations—listed in the front matter of most Tolkien books. I won’t say “don’t sweat the small stuff,” but I think a more exhaustive list that this becomes unhelpful. At least as far as reading order, I think this is about as good a plan of attack as any. I will say, “don’t neglect the non-legendarium writings;” but I will nevertheless mark them so you know what to expect.

Works by J.R.R. Tolkien

1937. The Hobbit
1949. Farmer Giles of Ham
1954. The Fellowship of the Ring
1954. The Two Towers
1955. The Return of the King
1962. The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
1964. Tree and Leaf
1967. The Road Goes Ever On
1967. Smith of Wootton Major

Works published posthumously

1975. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo
1976. The Father Christmas Letters
1977. The Silmarillion
1979. Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien
1980. Unfinished Tales
1981. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
1982. Finn and Hengest
1982. Mr Bliss
1983. The Monsters and the Critics & Other Essays
1983. The Book of Lost Tales, Part One
1984. The Book of Lost Tales, Part Two
1985. The Lays of Beleriand
1986. The Shaping of Middle-earth
1987. The Lost Road and Other Writings
1988. The Return of the Shadow
1989. The Treason of Isengard
1990. The War of the Ring
1992. Sauron Defeated
1993. Morgoth’s Ring
1994. The War of the Jewels
1996. The Peoples of Middle-earth
1998. Roverandom
2007. The Children of Húrin
2007. The History of The Hobbit
2009. The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún
2013. The Fall of Arthur
2014. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary
2015. The Story of Kullervo
2017. Beren and Lúthien
2018. The Fall of Gondolin

Works published after the death of Christopher Tolkien

2021. The Nature of Middle-earth
2022. The Fall of Númenor
2023. The Battle of Maldon

Key

The Lord of the Rings
The History of Middle-earth
Repackaging of previously-published material
Non-legendarium

Thank you for this suggestion, I will be sure to include this in my list.

This list is great and thank you for colour coding also!

I just recreated a list and the thread is below. It is really for someone with experience of the main works so perhaps useful for the future

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/n ... ewtopic.php?topic_id=4984