I never read anything from Tolkein except half of the hobbit like 15 years ago. I loved the first 2 movies and I can't wait for the 3rd next xmas.

but, I got the book for xmas. The whole Lord of the Rings all in 1 book. I'd like to read it, but at the same time, I don't want to spoil the 3rd movie I thought maybe I could just read to the end of 2 towers, but I know that if I'm into the book I won't want to stop.

So, should I just give in and read the book, or just wait till the 3rd part is out?

Spoil the movie? Hmm. Think of it this way - If you watch the movie first, you'll spoil the book. Trust me, the book is an entirely different experience, and should not be passed up. The movies are great, yes, but thay pail in comparison to the books. Do yourself a favor and just start reading. After about halfway through Fellowship, you won't be able to put it down.

Then read 3/4's of it.

The book is a different experience. the main thing you should do... READ THE BOOKS NOW. this way you will have it in your mind what happened, but it wont be soo freash in your mind when ROTK comes out that you will nit pick it.

Most definitely, read the book.

What they said. Read it. Read it now. It will only enhance your enjoyment of the movies.

Read it, but remember that it is a different medium (something some people can't seem to grasp) and as such moves a bit slower and contains more Middle-Earth style dialogue (i.e. poems and songs in the middle of a conversation).
In terms of spoiling the movie, it really won't do that as all flicks will deviate from the source to a certain extent. FOTR was pretty close to the book, TTT was true to the spirit, though it took a lot of liberties, and ROTK allegedly is faithful as well minus an epilogue.
I read the books before the movies (granted that they were read about 8 1/2 years before the films were attempted), and they only enhanced my enjoyment. In short, read away!!!!

Read 'em.

I've read the books a number of times over the years, and knowing the arc of the story didn't diminish the film(s) in any way.

The films had to change a few things around or leave things out in order to slide in at 3 hrs each, so it's not exactly a literal translation.

The only "negative" about reading the books now is that you will very likely be unable to envision anyone but the stars of the film as Frodo, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, etc. And that's not necessarily a bad thing....

I thought about picking up this LOTR Book Set from Borders and reading it, since I havent done it either. Watching TTT last week made me appreciate FOTR a lot more and I officially became hooked on it. Is the set worth getting?

Ugh. Movie covers...

If you're a "reader" person and into fantasy, I believe it's worth reading at least once. If you're a reader and not really into fantasy or not really a reader at all, I suggest skipping it. I'm a reader and into fantasy but I found both the Hobbit and FOTR extremely boring. TTT was ok, haven't started on ROTK.

If you like to read I'd say read the first two or three times and re-watch the first two films and be prepared fir next Christmas.

For me knowing the text helps fill out the movie.

I'm not much of a reader actually. I read on occasion though and I seem to be reading more now than I used to. I just finished reading The Stand and loved it, promptly bought the DVD right after so I could compare, but I saw the miniseries when it was first on TV so the whole time I pictured the characters as who they were on TV. I also read Dreamcatcher a little while ago, that will be the first ever book I've read without seeing the movie first, but I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's finally out

Anyway I started reading Lord of the Rings, but I'm only about 20 pages into it so far. I guess I'll see how it goes. It's pretty long so maybe I won't even get to the 3rd part before the 3rd movie is out

Funny that you should mention "The Stand."

I've heard that book referred to as the Amercian "Lord of the Rings."

King himself makes a couple of illusions to LOTR in the book as well.

The books are a fine read, but be warned some the explanation about who's whom can get tedious. It has a lot of stuff like: "this is Gogo, the son of Gimbert who slayed the Goofball at Dol Mio which was the city of the Munchkins who left their homeland of Dilbert during the age of the Bloobbloob when King Singsangsong and his son Dolphin ruled.".

Not that ridiculous, but some might see it as such.

I thought King Songsungblue was really cool!