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Absolutely.  But when you read the books, try to put the movies out of your mind.  The movies are loosly based on the books and the overall goal in the stories is the same.  But they are not the same stories.

The Hobbit movies tried (poorly, in my opinion) to weave into them some of the background of the stories from The Lord of the Rings book that had been left out of the movies.  You'll find the books to be both entertaining and a credible story but very different from the movies.

You will find The Hobbit reads like a children's book in some aspects (though nothing like modern children's books), but it is still very good.  The Lord of the Rings reads like an epic adventure that follows up on The Hobbit.  Make sure that you read the prologue found at the front of The Fellowship of the Ring as it recaps The Hobbit but also provides more information to help understand the world of Middle Earth.

The appendicies were added for two reasons.  First, when the books were originally published in the United States, the publisher, thinking that they would not do well, did not bother to copyright the story.  When they sold very well, Penguin Books started publishing the books since they were in the public domain.  The British publisher then asked Tolkein to make a few technical corrections and then add the appendicies which include background information that fans were starting to ask about.  Because of corrections and the addition of the appendicies, they were able to copyright the new book and, with a forward by the author specifically asking people not to purchase the unauthorized versions, Penguin found much lower demand for their books and stopped publishing the public domain version.

While the appendicies give quite a bit of background, I don't think they would be easily understood without the general story of the books in mind.  They are not really overly extensive but they are definitely interesting.

If you enjoy reading stories set in pre-industrial ages where there are wizards, elves, dwarves, men, halflings, orcs, wargs (wild wolves), monsters, Trolls, royalty, commoners, swords and spears, battles, and intrigues, you will enjoy this story.

Knowing the geography of Middle Earth really does assist in following the story in The Lord of the Rings.  You really don't need a better map for The Hobbit than what is included in any publication of the book.  But when you get to The Fellowship, I recommend you have access to a good map.  You can find a good map of Middle Earth online at:

http://www.theonering.com/galleries/maps-calendars-genealogies/maps-calendars-genealogies/map-of-middle-earth-j-r-r-tolkien