Must admit I've read the book about 15 times, watched the extended LOTR dvd's about 30 times and read the Hobbit at least 10 times.
I've been holding off on buying the Hobbit dvd until the extended version comes out. Made the mistake of buying all 3 trilogy dvds then getting the extended ones as well

I know what you mean about the Hobbit not being as good, to be honest, when Peter Jackson did the film he changed it too much from the book. The effects were great, but there was just something missing. I'm hoping the extended cut will fill in the gaps a bit.
My missus says I'm sad, cos I can watch LOTR and literally say all the lines at the same time as the characters
Have you read the Children of Hurin, that's a really good read. Very dark, but it's a really good story.