I'll admit I haven't been keeping up with the more recently written sci-fi books, but that's because most of the old ones are the best. The 1960s and 70s were the golden years for science fiction, in my opinion--Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Greg Bear are a few of my personal favorites.
What kinds of books do you enjoy? If you enjoy fast-paced drama and action, you might enjoy certain Star Wars books. There are a TON of Star Wars books out there, but "Rogue Planet" and "The Han Solo Trilogy" are my favorites from among them.
For this type of read you might also enjoy "Time Was: Isaac Asimov's I-Bots" by Steven Perry. Steven Perry has done some really good covers of Isaac Asimov's universes with really unique, likeable characters.
The "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow" series are also two excellent sci-fi series that have a nice mix of intelligent political intrigue, action, and interpersonal drama. They're by Orson Scott Card, and the first book in the series was written in the 60s, but it could easily have been written today. The sequels have been written over the past few decades and he's still writing them today.
There is SO much good sci-fi out there. Other books that are my favorites include the first two "Dune" books (by Frank Herbert), all of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" books, and Greg Bear's "Moving Mars." I actually like those better than the books I mentioned above, but they were written decades ago, so I thought I'd provide some more recent choices first.
If you ever want to chat about sci-fi, feel free to email or IM me. I live and breath science fiction.
