If you never read Roald Dahl as a child, I highly recommend all of his work. His style is so warm and inviting. Along that same vein, all of Brian Jacques Redwall series.
Sci fi fan? I highly recommend checking out John Varley's Titan (it is the first of a trilogy if interested.) Anything by Ursula K. Le Guin (At the very least: The Disposessed,) Heinlein (At the very least: The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land). Honestly, if you read one sci fi book in your life, read Stranger in a Strange Land. Put me to tears more than once... in a good way. You Grok?
Don't forget about the Hitchhikers books. Douglas Adams is an astoundingly amusing author, and you just can't translate that from page imo.
More along the lines of non-fiction, I highly recommend The Art of Racing in The Rain. Just dig the way the author writes, and although it is somewhat of a sad story, it is also a happy story. As is life I suppose.
So many more suggestions, Vonnegut, Kerouac (Dharma Bum's is where it's at there imo), Lewis Carroll, etc. etc. Let me know if you want me to go on, because I will!