I quiet often enjoy Fantasy but I do escape from it's escape from time to time. I'm only going to add two of my favorites in that genre because I feel they are lesser known or in the case of the second, "currently misrepresented."
Guy Gavriel Kay's, The Fionavar Tapestry (trilogy)
Perhaps my all time favorite that I almost didn't read because it started in the 'real' world and I normally dislike that type of mixture. However, after a short chapter or two, you are drawn into a multi-cultural fantasy world that is as colorful and detailed as even Tolkien could hope for. It has a similar theme to Wheel of Time in that fate is being weaved out on a divine tapestry but it is a more colorful read and doesn't take 13 books to get you to the end.
Are you sitting down? Robert E. Howard, The original Conan short stories and somewhat longer works.
Many will be rolling their eyes as they picture comic books and cheesy movies but I challenge you to take the time to read Jordan's original works. It's truly masterful writing that was dark, mature,
extremely detailed, and nothing like what the franchise has become today. Amazing that it was written in the 1920s or so and still stands today but I guess that is the advantage of writing fantasy. This is a great book to explore if you want to see what I mean.
Robert E. Howard : The Complete Chronicles. and if you are still embarrased that someone who doesn't know about Jordans original stories will think less of you for reading Conan, then the books all black, leatherish looking cover with gold writing makes it look like a bible from a distance.
Not favorites but some recent diversions I really enjoyed and that I would highly recommend........
Lawrence Hill --
The Book of Negroes The life of a young girl trecking accross Africa to board a slave ship, slave life in the Americas and her ultimate triumph in some very unexpected ways.
Adrian Goldsworthy --
How Rome Fell : Death of a Superpower. I especially enjoyed how he somehow avoided what must have been a huge temptation to delve into the parallels of certain modern societies but instead focuses on the history and leaves it up to yourself to contemplate it's relevance to modern day.
It's rare to find both together but I enjoy reading discussions about the physics of the universe (when broken down in relatively layman's terms) and also "the physics of religion," if you will. This series of interviews with some names you will recognize if you hold similar interests is an excellent read after 4 or 5 coffees to get the brain spinning (aka keep you awake in an airport so your bags are not stolen)
Einstien's God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit 
