I actually found it much easier to read AFTER reading, of all things, a book I bought at Costco called Heroes of Middle Earth. It was a very condensed run through the various personalities from the earliest days of Middle Earth up through the LOTR saga, written in a very pop culture style. After that basic familiarization with some key names and roles they played in some of the events from the first through third ages, it was much easier to follow the Silmarillion and I very much enjoyed it.