I don't listen to country music because I'm not aroused by tractors

As an aspiring hobbyist fantasy author, what books do you recommend I read?

I offer an old note from a friend, and a buffalo nickel

It's IMPERATIVE that you read LOTR and then copy it almost exactly, change very little except make the elves even cooler and more badass and make the humans more racist towards the other races. Really hamfist some original lukewarm social commentary that wasn't in LOTR. Also make all the hobbits human they're lame.

Next, read Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series and take these specific lessons from it: Skilled editors are a waste, and REAL fantasy series don't get good till book 11. Take several pages to explain the history of every song the barkeep regularly hums in exquisite detail, right down to the ethnoreligious conflicts that prompted the creation of the song and then never mention any of those things again. Make up a dictionary worth of fantasy nouns with no consistent rules of pronunciation.

Next, read all of Game of Thrones. Remember: realistic and intimate political uberviolence makes a story good. Be sure to absorb none of the underlying themes or learn anything about narrative pacing or tension and just add more graphic incest to your story.

Now that you've read GOT, read Discworld. By this time you should be an expert in the fantasy genre, so be sure to RIGOROUSLY critique every possible element of Pratchett's worldbuilding like you're high fantasy cinemasins. Make sure you compare it to GOT as often as possible and talk about how much better and cooler and more realistic GOT's magic is. Post about this on Twitter as much as possible.

Also, remember that none of what weve talked about so far is REAL fantasy writing. Everyone knows that the true elites of the fantasy world read nothing but poorly translated Soviet-era LOTR knockoffs with an original print run of 2,500 copies. Find yourself something like that so you can obnoxiously look down on people for not having read it.

Hope this helps.