Children's books? Anything by Lloyd Alexander or Joan Aiken. Also, The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Calico Captive by Elizabeth George Speare.

Fantasy? Tolkien's works, of course. Also, the Winter of the World trilogy by Michael Scott Rohan. And anything by an obscure fantasy writer named Teresa Edgerton. Oh, and Tad Williams' books.

SF? Anything by Connie Willis. Much of Robert A. Heinlein's works, although his last few works were a little weird for me. Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Adventures. Others too numerous to mention.

General fiction? The World According to Garp, by John Irving. East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath, by Steinbeck. Many works by Twain. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flag. Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna something-or-other.

History? Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose. The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara. An obscure French book called The History of Food (author?) Shelby Foote's three volume history of the American Civil War.

Other nonfiction? David Keirsey's Please Understand Me, William Least Heat Moon's Blue Highways, Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air, and James Kunstler's The Geography of Nowhere.

I'm not much on romances, Westerns, or mysteries, so I can't comment on those.