First I saw the movies and than I read all books.
I am now talking about my own personal experience, no offense to LOTR fans.
The movies are action packed and colorful, which I enjoyed watching. However the books didn't left much of an impression to me. I was a bit disappointed, because due to the hype I assumed it would be a grand masterpiece. But in the end it didn't caught the fire.
(No troll mails, please.
this is just the way I feel about it)