Books I Enjoyed that Were Outside My Comfort Zone and Changed What I Thought About Reading...and a Question

I've gone through various phases in my reading life. When I was a child, my mom only read gothic novels. So I read...right, gothic novels. To this day, I cannot bear to open a book with a castle and a woman in a long dress on the cover. 

Then I went through a long scifi reading phase. I read everything I could find that was scifi especially old scifi from the 1930s and 40s and 50s. And then one day, I stopped. 

I found a library near me where the librarian ordered and shared lots of literary fiction. That began my phase of reading books that were surprising, thoughtful, and sometimes a little beyond me. 

And I've continued to read those books of literary fiction. I still find them surprising. Thoughtful. Sometimes a little beyond me.

I discovered somewhere in there that I loved nonfiction that reads like fiction. (Not like a textbook. I still loathe textbooks.)

Classics. I decided to try to read 50 classics in 5 years via The Classics Club. Surprisingly I have greatly enjoyed almost every classic I've tried.

So here is where I am now: I'm getting ready to plan out 2026, readingwise. I need some new wonderful titles. I'm willing to try a new genre. Or an old one. Maybe not horror or porn-ish romance, but just about anything else. 

And here's my question: 

What should I read now? Could you recommend a genre or a specific book or books that I might have missed that I need to read before I die? 

Please share titles that have stayed with you, that you may have read and reread, titles that are favorites. Thank you in advance for any you share.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.