Hm. For reading order, I'd start with the Hobbit, then go to Lord of the Rings, then the Silmarilion (it covers the children of Hurin too). This goes from easiest-read to hardest-read.
The really lovely thing about Middle-Earth is that it's very layered (despite having few trolls, and not many onions
). There's some parts of the Hobbit you won't understand until you've read the Lord of the Rings, and parts of Lord of the Rings that won't become completely clear until you read the Silmarilion. Everything is explained adequately in the books themselves, but as you learn more about Middle-Earth you start seeing extra layers. Kind of like learning history as a child and then coming back to it as an adult. The greater experience and knowledge enriches and expands how you understand the events, even though the events themselves haven't changed.
It makes you appreciate just how much work Tolkien put into his world, and makes Middle-Earth more alive.