I just read through this entire thread over the last week or so, and man, do I feel bad for everyone who had enjoyed this series. It's surreal to read through it from start to finish and see how it nose-dived into a trainwreck and was ruined so badly for some, they can't even read the books.

It was funny to see the lead-up to the leaks on Season 8, but still. Feels to those who spent so long with the show, only to have it piss in their face.
A couple weeks ago I decided to read the books while I watched the show since I had only seen Season 1 (and forgot most of the books), and it really gave a different light on the series to me. The books are great. Even when there's a bit of rambling, you can get so engrossed you don't notice when you fly by chapters. It's not the greatest piece of literature but from the fantasy genre I can tell why it's so beloved - I think only The First Law series surpasses it in terms of engaging.
But the show I found to be lacking. I enjoyed it for the actors and the two scenes they added were fantastic, which were:
1. Tywin talking to Jamie as he skins a deer
2. Robert and Cersei talking about how their marriage sucks
And I put that solely to the actors having this presence on screen that made it believable. But so much was already being shuffled and cut in the first season. I know TV adaptation means a certain percentage needs to be unique, but you could tell from the start D&D really didn't get the characters in their episodes. The best example I can give is as if they read Rambo and thought the point was he was a killing machine and none of the other subtly. It's pretty bleak and you can see why it went off the rails when they ran out of book to the wreckage it became.
I'm going to read the books and watch the show at the same time until I run out of book, but I agree with a lot of others in this thread who say Martin isn't going to finish. Your best bet is probably fanfiction, as sad as that is. Even today you can tell GRRM would rather do Wild Cards and wished that was his magnum opus rather than ASOIAF, but I guess that just shows how the hype around something can kill it. Sometimes it's best to not adapt anything until it's wrapped up and finished.