[Galadriel55]

I see your point, Galadriel, but I think that the proper way to read it is backwards. I've talked to people who've read TH before LOTR, and neither of them got passed The Fellowship of the Ring. They say its just a repetition of TH, just with different characters and a little more detailed and a lot more complicated. I've read LOTR before TH, and I found the "repetition" quite all right, because I've read the more detailed version first and I already know what and where everything is.
I think that LOTR is the summit of Tolkien's works. TH is very simple compared to it; The Sil is very good, but it's just too much information to put in a separate book - there has to be either a separation or a continuation if it would be written out the "proper way". Tolkien did that with Narn i Hin Hurin, but again, it can't be a separate book. Moreover, he'd probably have to make a separate book for every one of the 6 battles of Beleriand...

My favourite character is probably Finrod, although I have many others. You can call me weird if you want to, but my favourite female character is Morwen, not Luthien.