Lately, it's The Black Flower by Howard Bahr. I'm on my second pass. I loved this so well I wrote a song about it. Recommended for EVERYONE who loves a good story, whether you normally like historical fiction or not. Also, his second book, The Year of Jubilo, is pretty good too. (For the record, I want to say that I did NOT like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, a popular Civil War novel a few years back. I did, however, really enjoy Killer Angels.)

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Lonesome Dove (but stop there; the others in that series pretty much suck)

Anything by Louis L'Amour, especially the Sackett stories

Anything by Charles Dickens or Victor Hugo

Shakespeare, Shakespeare, and more Shakespeare

I love reading historical diaries and letters.

I also enjoy theological works by Charles Swindoll.