You should really read the books, dead0man - the show is a brilliant adaptation, but you miss out on a good deal of detail. The direwolves and dragons are much more prominent as well. There's also hints to things that have not been alluded to in the show.
The wife has said she is going to read them...but not until the ENTIRE show is over and done with...which will be (hopefully) many years from now. I've never read "fantasy" type stuff, but I've already told her I'll read the first book when she's done with it and see how it goes. I kind of stopped reading fiction all together in my early 20s (other than a Steinbeck phase I went through a couple of years ago). I kind of don't want to wait....but on the other hand, I kind of do...but on the third hand, I've already learned...what I'm assuming is...the biggest "spoiler" of all with what I know of the "red wedding"....and I will be needing a Game of Throne fix pretty shortly after the season wraps up.
