Well, I only read about halfway through “Fellowship” and was pretty much bored to tears, so I credit Jackson with keeping me enthralled the entire time. As I understand it, the scouring of the Shire was after the other events of the books. People complained about the third movie ending too many times, I can’t imagine what would’ve happened if he’d kept it in.
Try reading the book again. In my experience, some people who gave up on the book the first time enjoyed it better the second.
The book is better—and gets better as you get through Books 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 where the action picks up.