The books I read (thrawn) were not particularly well-written -- they were pretty mediocre fantasy. I don't think I can agree at all that they were ever better than the original movie trilogy. I'm not going to argue with you much about the quality of the Star Wars books, since clearly you're a fan, and it's pointless to tell a fan that the thing they love is bad and expect them to suddenly change their opinion, but I will assert that it is by no means hypocritical to like one thing and to dislike another.
EDIT:
I should say that the books work fine as pulp-fiction adventure, but as interesting literature (or as an attempt to get some sort of emotional response out of me) they fall incredibly flat. Perhaps I'm expecting too much from these books, but the original movies were much more than just pulp-adventure. I don't want to make it sound like I think it's bad to like them, and perhaps I'm being too harsh, but that said, I do think they are bad -- as in that they don't meet my particular standard of quality or whatever.
in the end I don't really care what people like, but just that they've chosen to like it through their own choice and with good reason (rather than just to follow some trend or because they feel as thought they are expected to like it).