History.....George Washington, A Life. Ron Chernow . 800 pages of the complete story of Washinfton and the times. Humor..... Don't Sit Under the Grits Tree with Anyone Else But Me. Lewis Grizzard Humor only a southern man can tell.
I can't even imagine what books I would recommend, since the purpose and the individual would help dictate that. For amusement, try Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene.
While I feel obligated to name the Bible as the book that everyone should read, I would recommend the Lord of the Rings trilogy for the pleasure of reading. Don't neglect reading The Hobbit first, though. Although The Hobbit was written for children, The Lord of the Rings will make more sense to you if you have first read The Hobbit. That's what comes to mind, although there are probably others that I could recommend strongly.
I really like the Bible recommendation. I don't read it as much as I should, but do read the Daily Devotions in my Men's Bible my wife gave me in on my birthday in 2012.
The only two books I've read cover-to-cover are: Moby Dick and Catch Me If You Can. I'd recommend both. Did see the guy who Catch Me If You Can is about, interviewed on the Johnny Carson Show years ago. What he done/faked, how he was caught, wound up working part of his prison time off with the FBI and ended up the Head of Security for Fortune 500 businesses. To me, truly amazing!
Not many have read the Bible from cover-to-cover though. I am not sure about the Trilogy. My wife read it every year for eleven years as a tradition. She became quite an authority. I read the Bible through once cover-to-cover and read the Trilogy once as well. At one point in my life I read one fiction book per day, so I almost read the entire library of the small town where I lived at the time.
I don't read fiction anymore although I once got interested in a few Nevil Shute novels. I look for books on information I'm interested in like history etc.
I read fiction strictly for pleasure. I used to read to broaden my mind, but I figure by now, it's broad enough. At least, as broad as it's ever going to get.