The I've read a ton of Star wars novels, they are all pretty good with the exception of the first few in the late 70's early 80's. I love X-Wing's "Wraith Squadron" and "Iron Fist" by Aaron Allston the most. One of the few star wars novels to make me cry and also make me laugh hard enough to wake up people at night. The most alluring things are the blend of humor and tragedy of some characters. All the characters except for Wedge can be considered "defective" people, one is a traumatised form squad leader who's entire squad was killed in an ambush. We got one who's Jedi flunky. A former imperial child actor who was used to as propaganda and later horrified of the truth in the empires actions as well as the results of his work. One is a man who's lost the ability to live life to the fullest because he finds himself losing his humanity over time due to his injuries (No longer able to attract women, incapable of having children, and unable to continue his career) and tons more.
Anything by John Dos Passos is pretty good. He was on par if not better then Hemingway, and not to mention has gained the highest literature awards around at his time. I love both his historical, and fictional works.
Various versions of Kind Arthur's legends and his knights. At age 8 I read a 12,000 page 3 inch thick book, I don't remember who wrote it, but I believed it was titled "King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table" possibly by Roger Lancelyn Green. That book was a to read...
Animal Farm. Probably one of the most enjoyable books I read, it's so incredibly funny with it's horribly dark morbid humor.
Any of the Darwin Award books, good for a laugh, or just go to the website.
As well as dozens upon dozens of historical books like "Europe and Our Nation", "Army of the Potomac", and "Great People of the Bible and How They Lived".
One of my favorites is Plotting Hitler's death. Real life stories about how the German resistance and many others plotted to kill Hitler. Hitler survived over 56 assassination attempts and over 200 plots. The book offers a great deal of detail and an inside view of Germany that most people aren't aware of.
Finally, I suggest you guys read a couple of foreign books. "The Art of War" Sūn Zǐ Bīng Fǎ and "Pack Of Wolves" by Vasil Bykov
I was about ot wrap this up when I remembered more good books. Let's see In "My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer" by Irene Gut Opdyke is one of the most tragic and horrifying books I read. She lost a lot of things, including being raped by a Nazi to save the lives of the Jews she saved, as well as escaping her own persecution from Russians and others, and loosing her first love.
"Summer of my German Soldier" another great read. About a young American girl under an abusive father who houses and protects a German POW in the USA.
"Bully: A True Story of High School Revenge" a real life murder carried out in California by a bunch of teens with such horrible brutality and insane circumstances that you'd think it was a low budget B movie.
"Call of the wild" a must read classic