I'm shocked and dismayed that is has taken me this long to reply in this thread!
As my name also implies, I am indeed a Star Wars fan. However, I have not been able to appreciate the EU as much as many other fans have. I guess you could say I am a Star Wars snob.
The original trilogy is by far the best, and I do have an appreciation for the prequels (although they pale in comparison to the originals, in my opinion). Because of my deep seated feelings about that, the only EU books I really liked were the Timothy Zahn Dark Force trilogy, as many have mentioned before me. They seem to be the only ones that have captured the true Star Wars vibe for me. I read the Kevin J. Anderson Jedi Academy trilogy, and I think that really ruined me. I stumbled through
The Courtship of Princess Leia and
Shadows of the Empire. I tried. I really did. (I did enjoy the Dark Horse comic series, although I have not read every single "episode".)
My SW reading has indeed trailed off after the Courtship disaster, but once in while I'll find myself drawn to one of the newer releases, thinking to myself, "maybe I should give them another chance." But, with school, social life, and beautiful girlfriend, I really don't have that much time for recreational reading. So I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through my friends who have not abandoned the EU.
Catie
When I'm 130 years old, I want a pill that makes me so happy and so unself-conscious and so randy I'm willing to make love to my fuzzy bed slippers on my front lawn and yodel at the same time. -- Scott Adams from Dilbert and the way of the Weasel