Read through the books three or four times and I do love them, although I shudder to think how many times I've seen the movies. I think I've dedicated more time to the latter so that's your answer.

Tolkien was a great world builder but wasn't a great writer - it's not an easy pick up and read book. Conversely, the Hobbit book is precisely that so it's weird that he could do it with one and not the other, although I suppose The Hobbit was more of a children's thing.

The movies are about more than just the plot. As Miriel touched upon, the music and the visual design are smurfing exemplary. Stylistically the movies are in a league of their own. The Army of the Dead is just a quick shortcut rather than having an extra battle (vs the Corsairs) and then introducing a new set of characters - right near the end of 9 hours of movie, remember - for the Dunedain. Wraps it up in one neat package and I'm okay with that.