Animal Farm is a short, fun book. You should give it a read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dinosaur_Robbery

If you watched the dumbed down movie, forget it, the book is far better and definitely not for children, although very funny.

I support Poe. If you like Horror it is good. Also it's short stories (his only novel was never finished), that might be a bit easier to get into if you're an unexperienced reader. And Poe is good, so you probably shouldn't be bored to death (and short stories also have the advantage, that your suffering is short if you dislike the story).

I also recommend the Robot-stories and the original Foundation-trilogy by Asimov. The Robot-stories are again short stories. The foundation-trilogy is longer overall, but it goes from short pieces to longer ones, and each have a complete story. So you get slowly into reading longer texts, and if the first stories aren't to your liking, you can stop it.

The last recommendation are the The Cyberiad and The Star Diaries by Stanislaw Lem. Science Fiction and again short stories.

For history, physics, science and time travel, adventures and some terror, read the Time Odyssey from 2 of the best sf writers, Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It's 3 volumes, Time's eye, Sun storm and Firstborn. An alien civilization wants to destroy the earth by flaring the sun, while different groups of people throughout history suddenly find themselves on a patchwork alternative earth. One of the highlights is an epic battle between Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great in ancient Mesopotamia.

If you want more large scale terror Flood and Ark from Stephen Baxter is a very intelligent disaster story describing the aftermath of continually rising sea levels until the entire world is covered, plus a realisic look in the perils of interstellar space travel as a last ditch effort to preserve the human race.

Stephen Baxter is a hard SF writer, firmly basing his stories in real science ans engineering which makes it sometimes a bit tough to get through, but his books always pay off big. I just read Proxima from him, a different look on a first attempt at establishing a settlement on an exo planet, together with the discovery of ancient alien tech hidden underground on Mercury. Future politics, AI, alien life, human behaviour all feel very realistic.

Catch 22 -- Everyone should read this novel. It created a phrase, after all. The brilliance of it is the way it examines war through humor without forgetting that war is about death. The main character is a man who wants desperately to leave the military--he's an American bomber crewman stationed in Europe--and tries to do everything in his power to achieve that. It turns out to be a very difficult task, however. The story is full of crazy, hilarious characters and situations but also black comedy that does not shy away from tragedy.

“You have a morbid aversion to dying. You probably resent the fact that you're at war and might get your head blown off any second."

"I more than resent it, sir. I'm absolutely incensed."

"You have deep-seated survival anxieties. And you don't like bigots, bullies, snobs, or hypocrites. Subconsciously there are many people you hate."

"Consciously, sir, consciously," Yossarian corrected in an effort to help. "I hate them consciously."

"You're antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, exploited, degraded, humiliated, or deceived. Misery depresses you. Ignorance depresses you. Persecution depresses you. Violence depresses you. Corruption depresses you. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if you're a manic-depressive!"

"Yes, sir. Perhaps I am."

"Don't try to deny it."

"I'm not denying it, sir," said Yossarian, pleased with the miraculous rapport that finally existed between them. "I agree with all you've said.”
― Joseph Heller, Catch 22

Neuromancer -- This is pretty much the beginning of "cyberpunk". With this novel, the author, William Gibson, made sci-fi stylish and cool and created many of the terms and technology that would define the genre. Beyond that, it's also a very interesting read about the Pandora's Box of creating sentient Artificial Intelligence. The main character was once a hot-shot hacker who would jack his brain into cyberspace and steal industrial secrets, at least until he messed with the wrong people and got his circuits burned out. However, he's about to learn that some very powerful interests still have a use for him.

“A year here and he still dreamed of cyberspace, hope fading nightly. All the speed he took, all the turns he'd taken and the corners he cut in Night City, and he'd still see the matrix in his dreams, bright lattices of logic unfolding across that colourless void... The Sprawl was a long, strange way home now over the Pacific, and he was no Console Man, no cyberspace cowboy. Just another hustler, trying to make it through. But the dreams came on in the Japanese night like livewire voodoo, and he'd cry for it, cry in his sleep, and wake alone in the dark, curled in his capsule in some coffin hotel, hands clawed into the bedslab, temper foam bunched between his fingers, trying to reach the console that wasn't there.”
― William Gibson, Neuromancer

"Facts"? Dan Brown?

His stuff might be entertaining, but I'd suggest doing some research if you think anything in his books is factual.

As an avid reader, I can't fathom not reading. I think I'm on my 21st novel so far this year. But anyways, I second the Stephen King recommendations. His language is so loose and "slang-y" and the subject matter always has a way of reminding me of growing up in the summer time.

Also, check out Paolo Bacigalupi. Start off with Pump Six And Other Stories, a collection of short stories about the near future and how fucking bleak and depressing life is.

Catch 22 is a great book. Seconded

Reefer Madness and Fast Food Nation

Anyway, no long series? Well, that leaves out a good number of my favorites but there are several more I can recommend.

The Phantom Tollbooth- A boy travels to a strange land where the abstract is often literal and hilarious. Through clever wordplay and strange adventure it induces the reader to see how utterly odd are the things we call 'ordinary'.

Steelheart- The first in the Reckoners Trilogy. If you like superhero genre this is a great one to try. It's a world where power literally corrupts, and 'Epics' have divided the world into fiefdoms. The writing flows quickly and easily, the POV character is very entertaining, and it balances impressive action with realistic consequences.

Watership Down- It reads very much like a medieval tale of adventure yet occurs entirely to a group of rabbits trying to survive in 1940ish England.

Anansi Boys- A tale of the modern world interacting with mythology come to life, and one man's journey to find the spark he lost as a child. Very cleverly written and full of humor. I'd suggest most things by Neil Gaiman, but this is one of his finest.

Sherlock Holmes- Any of them, though I would start with the short stories. They are some of the original detective stories, and it is hard to find better. Edgar Allen Poe's short stories are also a good choice.

The Island in the Sea of Time - 1990's Nantucket island gets transported into 1250 BC. It then has to survive and rebuild as best they are able. It's one of the best books I've ever seen for displaying the sheer difference between us and our ancestors. In most time travel ancient people are treated like ignorant (or stupid) versions of modern ones, but this book really explores their world views and marks the differences that have occurred over time.

Guns of the South- A hate group travels through time, supplies the American South with AK47s and helps them win the Civil War. Very rich in history with intelligent portrayals of real people from that era.

That's it for now, but I'll probably think of more and post again.