There is a great series of novels written by Gore Vidal, the titles are
Burr
Lincoln
1876
Empire
Washington DC
The golden Age
It is one fictionalised history lesson from 1776 till around 1950s. Great entertaining read and a good way to get started.
There are some non-fiction books that are good and are written by David McCullough:
1776
John Adams
Truman
But he wrote narrative as well: D-Day Remembered.