I would agree three is by far the best, which raises the bar as follows. As far as my favorites, at the moment I would rate them:

3
1
4
5
2

Book 4 is my second favorite book. It's only a "let down" because it comes after book 3. And book 3 is one of the best genre books I've ever read. I'd rank them:

3
4
1
5
2

Since 2 seems to be one of the worst books.....should I skip it since I've seen the 2nd season?

NO! you will miss to many subplots the show does not have time for

my order for the books
3
1
5
2
4
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Average book

No, at least not Bran. His have prophecies and hints in them and even some of the Tower of Joy back story on Lyanna Stark. But you shouldn't skip any of them. Reading these books when you already know the story allows you to focus in on all the small details and hints about things that GRRM is just a master at inter-weaving in these books. I've never seen an author who hints at so many things without expressly stating them. You have to pay attention to pick up on the clues, and that's part of what makes them fun to read. Or you can go to the fan sites after and see what you missed which is what I did, and boy, I missed a bunch the first time through.

I liked book 2 better than some of you guys seem to. I really enjoyed the Tyrion parts in that book as he comes in and takes over. It's really his shining moment as everything goes downhill for him after the Battle of Blackwater.

It's misleading to say Book 2 is one of the worst books. The worst of this series is still hard to beat. Plus you need it to really enjoy book 3 to it's fullest.

I'm in the middle of hte second book. I think it's pretty good.

My book rankings:

3
1
2
4
5

I'm pretty frustrated with the series at this point in time. He's suffering from Robert Jordan Syndrome now, in that he's created so many spinoff plots that he can't juggle them all. Not a fan of the current direction, but I have hopes that he'll bring things together in the next book and move forward.

Don't skip Bran, the other two you can skip for the entire series.

LMAO

Every time I turn the page and see Catelynn or Sansa......I'm all FUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

Yep. There is a metric ****ton of loose ends out there, not to mention how scattered to the wind the characters are, assuming that there are only two books left (supposedly).

I wonder if he'll pull one of those "10 Years After the Events in Dances" angles?

Heh. Push through it. There is a method to the madness.....

Oops. 5 and 2 should be switched. 5 has been my least favorite so far. Should be:

3
4
1
2
5

Definitely read it. Don't skip it. It's not as good as 1 or 3, but that's the only reason it suffers. Some GREAT stuff happens. And the show changed more from book 2 than the others, so far.