I don't skip anything when I'm reading for pleasure. I like to read slowly, pronouncing the text with my inner voice for full immersion. I will sometimes skip with rereads when I know a book very well and only want to read my favourite bits. And I most certainly skim through pages/chapters when I'm reading for work.

Tolkien's style reads more like mythology than modern prose. He's not poor at dialogue but his characters talk more like people in archaic epic literature than actual people. It's an intentional part of the worldbuilding but I understand how it can be alienating.

I've read it and it's really great!

I love how it captures the way people think and remember stuff, sometimes going in circles, sometimes focusing on seemingly minor details. The whole novel has this incredibly calm and restrained voice, yet it's so utterly captivating.