Seconding the dumping of the TV. I've heard nothing but good things about the Culture series so that's something I'll have to get to soon. And I can never recommend the original 6 dune books enough, simply legendary.
Culture was meh...By the 2nd or 3rd book you realize that the Culture is so powerful that nothing presents a risk. It's like Superman without Kryptonite (or his lack of pragmatism). Aside from the first book, Consider Phlebas, Excession was probably the best - largely because it focused on ships rather than people. Just my $0.02 of course.