Which to read first?
 

The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales? (After a proper reading of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, of course).

Which would you recommend to a friend who is nearly finished with his first reading of LotR?

The Silmarillion. Unfinished Tales expands upon both the Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings, and so it is essential to read the former before starting Unfinished Tales.

Seems fairly obvious to me... but that's just me.

I'll second that Formen.... I just finished UT today (Unless you consider the book is not finished if I have not gone through ALL The notes) ... and I wouldn't have understood some of it if I hadn't read The Sil first. In many instances Christopher Tolkien (who put Unfinished Tales together and wrote comments about most of it) will say "This story refers to X episode in The Silmarillion" or "This is X story of Lord Of The Rings as told by Gandalf" and so on.

So most definitely, I recommend you read The Silmarillion first.

Definitely the Sil! But do warn him/her that it might be a bit of a shock after the style of LOTR! ;)

I recomment UF first, then Sil.

Joining the majority here. First the Silmarillion!

Fifth! The Silmarillion. Otherwise the friend is going to be very, very confused.

Sounds Good!

I've actually read LotR and Sil countless times, and most volumes of HoME at least once, but am just preparing to crack UT for the first time. Wasn't quite sure what to expect...

Depends on a time frame.
 

What you read next all depends on what time period you wish to dwell in. If you want to carry on with Sam and Frodo(or actually what they have been rumored to have writen) I would suggest "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil". If short stories and poems is not your cup of tea, then these can be a bit arduous (don't go looking for a fantasy epic here). I would also stay away from the H.O.M.E and B.O.L.T volumes for now.

Quote: The Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales? (After a proper reading of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, of course).
End Quote:

The Silmarillion would of course be your best bet, assuming you have already read 'The Hobbit'... I can't tell by that quote, if you have already read it, or are going to read 'The Hobbit'.

I would only add that Unfinished tales contains things that may interest the friend in the event that they don't get into the Silmarillion - and many people who love LOTR never really make that transition. If they can accept that the tales are not definitive versions then they might like to read at least part 3 and maybe part 2 before the Silmarillion. There they will find lots of Tolkien's thoughts on such matters as the Palantiri, the Wizards, the Quest of Erebor (ie The Hobbit) from Gandalf's perspective.

Of course the published Silmarillion isn't exactly definitive but at that stage CT presented it as a "complete" work not as edited fragments.

Caution...
 

For me the natural choice was the Silmarillion, if I had known of the existance of the Silmarillion when I first encountered Lord of the Rings I would have read that first; due to the base history of the 'creation' and 'first ages' not covered by the trilogy.

However I hold some caution to promoting the Silmarillion, for it is considered by some to be less than canon. The rumoured changes and additions not of Tolkienesque make mean the books credabililty is degraded somewhat. However it does not detract from a book that is filled with useful insights and a glorious history.