Some of the books I've read this year that I'd recommend:
The Divine Comedy by Dante - It is hard to underestimate how much it has influenced our culture.
A Distant Mirror - The history of the 14th century, but engaging like a novel.
Name of the Rose - Mystery novel set in Medieval times.
On Lisp by Paul Graham - http://www.paulgraham.com/onlisp.html
Seasoned Schemer - Kind of an interactive book that teaches computer science concepts in an interactive paper based way. Probably best to start with the Little Schemer first.