I had the opposite reaction when I was that age, but there really is no comparison between The Hobbit and LOTR. The former is a children's book, the latter just the opposite. That doesn't mean any given reader will like LOTR, of course, or that they're wrongheaded if they don't. But readers who give up on Tolkien just because they disliked The Hobbit may find they've shortchanged themselves.
Shakespeare I just can't get anywhere with. The archaic language is too much of a barrier.