Read "The Lord of the Rings" in 6th grade (somewhat - I struggled reading it and I couldn't wait to see how it ended so I skipped parts), have been hooked on Tolkien ever since.
Favorite Tolkien character:
Gil-galad, because of how awesome he was - a mere Child of Illuvatar who went toe to toe with Sauron and with Elendil took him down, after overcoming all of the hardship he and his family went through in the First Age (that was no fault of his own), and for being able to unite all of the free world, and inspiring greatness in people like Elrond and Elendil.