I can’t believe I almost forgot my favorite: Siddhartha.
For non-technical books I’m pretty much a life-long Tolkien fan. Tolkien has everything that I like. He created a world to go with his passion of creating languages. Who doesn’t love that? I especially like to get bogged down in the detail that he provides.
As for the classics, I’ve not read as many others but Brothers Karamazov had probably the biggest impact on me. It’s just so amazing at how it deals with the dichotomies of life. The “grand inquisitor” dialog is the best prose I’ve ever read in my life.
The Alchemist.
Man’s Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl.
I don’t have the eyes for reading after working in front of a screen for hours on end.