Sweet, let's get started:

- The Consolations of Philosophy. Again an easier read, great way to get situated and have a lasting knowledge of the basics from Plato to the present day.

- The Rebel by Albert Camus. Much meatier than Consolations, but a profound standard of philosophy and a significant necessity to every philosopher's collection.

- Plato: Jumping to the other extreme of the difficulty spectrum, for our purposes I'll consider this non-fiction because it's intended to be. Read the Dialogues, Sophists, and get associated with the Republic. At my current internship, the founder of the bank (whom I did not recognize) started talking to me about my interest in books. I mentioned philosophy and made the grave mistake of citing The Republic... I last read it in 8th grade. As luck would have it he knew everything Plato ever put on paper by heart and wiped the floor with my stuttering uncertainties and backpedaling. Dear god, if you read Plato make it count and read it well.

-Slowly but thoroughly go through essays by Nietzsche, Camus & Sartre, and other philosophers that interest you instead of trying to tackle a 1,000-page manifesto that you know you won't have the patience for.

As a sidenote that isn't directly philosophy, the last leap to confidently calling myself an atheist (at least, confidently not associating with any faith or religion) was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, if you're into that. And if you are, The Selfish Gene is a much smaller, great read as well.

roll the drums please, the endgame: I should probably include this on it's own, but there is a book called GEB- Godel, Escher, Bach- that is the only book I have ever tackled that I had to drop because I just wasn't ready for it yet. However, I've been told by a select handful of the most intelligent and successful people I've met that that is one of the most significant intellectual texts in recent times. I honestly can't say much more because I just don't know enough to say-- but according to the bigshots, this is the motherload. By the way, I'm curious kleinbl00 if you have read or heard of this book.. I feel like it would tickle your fancy; tickle it with an electric cattle prod, that is.