One book I read a few years ago on the Third Crusade left its mark on me: 'Warriors of God, Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade' by James Reston Junior. Although at the time I loved the book (Some people have called it 'popular history') I realise now he was writing with a MASSIVE agenda - He makes vague comparisons between the Latin Christian States and Israel throughout the book. He also tries to tie in The Crusades and modern developments in the Middle East, which is a rather tricky thing to do. (He doesn't mention this in the book)
Another book I read years ago (When I went through a big phase of reading books between fourth and halfway through sixth year at school) was 'Rubicon' by Tom Holland. Written in a 'popular history' style, it tells the story about the fall of the Roman Republic in a very lively way with good context about major events before Caesars crossing of the Rubicon.
Jean Plaidy wrote a few (around 200!) historical novels, such as the 'Bastard King' (About William the Conquerer) and 'The Battle of the Queens' (About Eleanor of Aquitaine, Phillip Augustus, Blanche of Castille and Louis VIII) and I also have 'the heart of the Lion' lying around and never got round to reading it.
Its been a while since I've read anything of importance, except 'A Few Bloody Noses' by Robert Harvey (About the American Revolution) which I finished at Christmas. Anything I do read seems to encyclopedia sections or sections from books directly related to my course, which is a shame. Its hard to read much when at college, believe it or not!