I mentioned this in another thread, but I think it is worth its own posting.  Anyone looking to read a fascinating book on World War 2 should pick up any of Cornelius Ryan's Books.  He wrote three that are considered to this day to be THE seminal work on their individual subjects.  These are non-fiction but so riveting that I literally could not stop reading them the first time I did so.  His big three are:

The Longest Day

Tells the story of the Normandy invasion, the events leading up to it, and from the German and allied point of view.  There is much detail about the 101st Airborne's drop into St. Mere Eglise (they were cut to ribbons) and literally hundreds of stories about the individual heroism involved.  Even the Canadian unit involved it dealt with thoroughly.  This was re-made as the John Wayne Movie of the same name.

A Bridge too Far

The events leading up to and including Operation Market-Garden from a German, Allied, and Dutch resistance point of view.  This book is nothing short of incredible in it's detail from the British arrogance in ignoring intelligence to the Dutch freedom fighters that were almost completely ignored (at one point they made barricades from human corpses to keep the German tanks from reaching the British).  Again, this was made into a movie (terrible, just terrible).

The Last Battle

Gives the story of the last days of Berlin from German, Russian and Civilian perspectives.  Tells of the Germans last desparate defense, the plan to reform in a a national redoubt in the Alps, the atrocities commited by Germans and Russians against each other and the Civilians, and the civilians struggle to survive against this backdrop.

Any of these books should be required reading in any history course.