I always ask what is the last book they've read, but my fiction stand by list is
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunnet
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Non-fiction
Know it all by A.J. Jacobs
Candyfreak by Steve Almond
84 Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived: How Characters of Fiction, Myth, Legends, Television, and Movies Have Shaped Our Society, Changed Our Behavior, and Set the Course of History

My husband pretty much is the definition of an occasional reader and he devoured Kurt Eichenwald's big book on Enron, Conspiracy of Fools. I never read business books but I also flew through that book in about three days. It's a great read.

I agree with the recommendation of The Glass Castle -- an unbelievable story told with insight and no whining. I wish I had been able to get through Devil in the White City but something about the prose was off-putting enough that I lost interest in the story by the end of the second chapter. But friends who liked that book keep telling me to give it another go so maybe it's time to try again.

That is now on my top-ten list. I listened to both of Safran Foer's major books on audio and the narration was hilarious! I would highly recommend him for audio! I liked ELandIC better than Everything Is Illuminated.

Excellent list!
Still have not read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ... I really must get on that someday.

It depends on the person, but this is pretty much my go-to list.

Fiction:
The Handmaid's Tale
The Poisonwood Bible
The Hunger Games
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The House of the Spirits

Nonfiction:
Devil in the White City
In The Heart of the Sea: The Tale of the Whaleship Essex
The Glass Castle
Child of the Jungle:The True Story of a Girl Caught Between Two Worlds
Random Family:Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming-of-Age in the Bronx