I want to read the Lord of The Rings,  the epic high fantasy novel by Tolkien
I highly recommend it. You should also watch the movies
I believe it began as a sequel, which what book should I start reading? 
Start with first of the trilogy. I dont remember the exact name but it will give you a good background. 
It must be good since it is one of the best-selling novel ever written.
Yes I agree, do you know when it was written or published?
I think it was written in stages between 1937 and 1949.
Oh that was a long time ago! I thought it might have been more recent.
a trilogy, the work was initially intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two-volume set, the other to be "The Silmarillion", but this idea was dismissed by his publisher. For economic reasons, "The Lord of the Rings" was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955. The three volumes were titled "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King". Structurally, the
. (Hence the association of the Gamgees with the Cottons.) I knew nothing of its origin."
Tolkien claimed to be genuinely surprised when, in March 1956, he received a letter from one Sam Gamgee, who had heard that his name was in "The Lord of the Rings" but had not read the book. Tolkien replied on March 18:
"Dear Mr. Gamgee,
It was very kind of you to write. You can imagine my astonishment when I saw your signature! I can