I'm with you on this one. I'm reading it as well. I'll tell you something, though. I read the Hobbit first about nine years ago. I "powered through it" at first and then found myself reading it. When it was over, I was little sad it was done.

I haven't found the same happening with LoTR.

The landscape, the history, the world building - it's all so full and alive. The writing is just unbelievably bland. This is, in fact, my third time trying to read the book. I'm not giving up on this time because I know it's a good book in the sense that its worth reading for what it offers story wise.

Honestly, I could do without frequency of the songs. It isn't the first time I've come across songs in a book, but the frequency is a bit much for me.