The Lord of the Rings

It's a timeless classic and a cornerstone of the genre. While elements may seem cliched, it is the originator of many, and the popularizer of others. You'll see into a lush, fleshed-out world that seems genuinely alive, and that's both frustrating and wonderful all at once. I read this for the first time as a young teen, and found skipping the essays at the beginning rather useful for my first go-around.