pretty much. The Hobbit is a well written story, LOTR would be great if it was suffixed with Campaign Setting, and the Silmarillion is just an exercise in endurance.
To expand from the sound bite. The Hobbit is exactly what it's supposed to be, and does it well. Lord of the Rings is an incredibly dry read (especially when you go back and reread it after the movies are out) that at times focuses more on Middle Earth and it's cultures, history, geography, and mythology than it does on any members of the Fellowship. I'm not saying it's bad (that would be rediculous), I'm just saying LOTR has hits and misses, when it hits, oh boy does it hit. When it misses, well the hits make up for it. The Silmarillion was just...ambitious, which is probably the nicest thing I can say about it. Unfinished Tales shares elements of all three, and is worth picking through. I personally love Gandalf's account of the Hobbit, a great bridge between the two books.