J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey is a rip-roaring fantasy adventure full of rips, roars and all kinds of incredible creatures, and it has clamped readers to the edge of their seats ever since it was first published in 1937.

A quick bit of maths will tell you that that makes 2012 the 75th anniversary of the story's publication. What's more, this year also sees the release of Peter Jackson's new film adaption of the novel, so what better time to celebrate this incredible book.

Our Hobbit community

With this in mind, we are launching a new online Hobbit community for reading groups. Nine groups of eager readers from across the country will be reading the novel and sharing their views about it in a series of blogs. In addition, the groups will be blogging about some of the many different Tolkien-inspired events, activities and workshops that they will be taking part in over the next few months.

Get involved

Get into the spirit of things by watching the film's trailer here, and then meet our Hobbit bloggers on our Reading Groups for Everyone site.