Two that are perennial favorites that will impress people are "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers and "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
"A Heartbreaking Work..." is about a man who, when he's 22 years old, watches both his mom and dad die within a 5 week span of each other. He's left to raise his 7 year old brother pretty much on his own. The wonderful thing about the book is he turns it into a comedy. It's a very heartwarming book.
"Atlas Shrugged" is one of the world's great novels. It's a fictional story about how corporations are killing the world's economy through greed and pointless bureaucracy. It's maybe the most relevant novel ever written for what's going on today. You will be amazed by how prescient Ayn Rand was.
