Day in the Life of an Idiot

You aren't alone in not having read all of Lord of the Rings. I found the books impenetrable myself. I tried twice to read the trilogy and both times bogged down at the point where they're floating down the river and suddenly Strider stands up and starts reciting genealogy for a couple of pages for no visible reason. Loved the movies, though, and I suspect it's because they replace the most turgid bits of Tolkien's prose with beautiful, modern special effects and omit almost all of the history and songs.