I read the books in preparation for the movies, and didn't like them because I found Tolkien's writing style boring and over-descriptive. However, when the films came out I bashed them for being untrue to the books' story--mainly because they had less of Arwen. (I can't stand Liv Tyler. Heheh.) However, eventually I realized how stupid I was being to base my entire opinion of a film based on one singular thing, so by the time "Return of the King" came out, I became a junkie for those movies. I now count them as some of my most favorite films ever made, and own the Extended Edition DVD's. I still dislike the books though--I respect Tolkien's imagination, but actually reading the books is just too much like reading a textbook.