Do the books even have any affiliation with the films?

Yes.

'The Truce of Bakura' starts immediately after the Ewok celebration on Endor. From there, the saga continues...

They could've done the entire Yuuzhan Vong invasion a lot better with three to six books. The first three books were useless, and could easily have been condensed into one.

Everything after Star By Star was good, but again, didn't have to be so damn long. Minor stories like the Coruscant mission in Rebel Stand and the Yevetha in the last trilogy could have been omitted.

One author could have written the neccessary five or so books in two or three years, and tied the story together a lot better.

Ackbar dies in the last book- its seems like a minor note. He was getting old, but still had a sharp enough mind to devise a plan that really whipped up on the Vong.

The Series is quite long, which is why I haven't read all of it. Even some of the later books are useless, like the Ylesia, book.

And I forgot the mention that the series brought out the worst yoda like incarnation ever created- Vergere.

I am so glad she died.