I mostly stick to reading non-fiction, so I would say that most of them captivate me more than the fictional stuff (I see enough fiction in the news), but here are some of the best I've read:

No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. This book by Naomi Klein was released just before the year 2000 and really opened the eyes of a lot of people when it comes to big brands. I think back then people were still quite naive about brands like McDonald's, Microsoft, Nike and so on, but this is the book that changed that. Klein did her research and told the public exactly what goes on behind the scenes of these shiny big brands and the lengths that they have gone to in order to appeal to the youth. It's really insidious stuff and might make you think twice about supporting a few brands. The thing that I really like about this book is how the author split everything up into four distinct sections, so in the first you can read about how brands began to move beyond advertising a product and promoting a lifestyle, then how they took away consumer choice by forcing competition out of the market. Klein also talks about the labor process behind the big brands, particularly how they outsource to countries with terrible working conditions and no labor laws. Fun fact, I discovered this book based on the recommendation of my favorite band, Radiohead. They stated it was an influence during the recording of some of their albums, so obviously I had to check it. Other non-fiction books that I would really recommend are The Last Days of Hitler by Hugh Trevor-Roper, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey, and A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

The only non-fiction books that ever really grab my attention are the biographies about people that I admire or find interesting. I've also read a couple of biographies about people who have led very interesting or unusual lives. I can recommend A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It Or Not!" Ripley by Neal Thompson for one as well as Undiluted Hocus-Pocus: The Autobiography of Martin Gardner by Martin Gardner. Both books caught my attention due to their titles and both ended up being very enjoyable reads despite being non-fiction.