Someone had already written down all my arguments. But yeah.Arsen said:The show doesn't fully elaborate on various themes and other topics the books do.
With the books you get:
1. Introspective looks into the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of characters from present and past events.
2. Historical information about each location, as well as legends, folklore, and myths from past generations that clarify or offer hints as to what might happen in the future.
3. More knowledge about the characters from their interactions with other characters. (This is a big one)
4. It will make the show ACTUALLY make sense. They leave out so much I wonder how they can even dare to pull off "the legendary hero" BS when his name is actually "Azor Ahai". What? Too Middle Eastern sounding for the average viewer?
Also, you know the part where they found the wolves in the first episode? It was mentioned in the book that Jon thought the gods gave them to the children to protect them. MAJOR importance which was left out. Made them just seem like regular dogs.
Not to mention the foreshadowing that is never shown.
Incoming spoiler for the first season, possibly the third if you think about it hard enough:
The wolf mother was found impaled with a stag's horn. Starks - Wolves, Baratheons - Stag... sort of symbolic of how Robert/Cersei led to their doom through their actions.
Not to mention all the other areas of foreshadowing.
You should read it, right now.
An additon to this good list would be the inclusion of major characters that have yet to appear in the show,