The vital search

I've just finished an interesting book 1944: FDR and the Year that changed History. Other than the fact that every year changes history, and that the author, Jay Winik, really is too considerate of President Roosevelt, it is a very good book. My trouble now is that I don't know what to read next.
There simply aren't enough good books in the world. There are a lot of books, yes, but so many of them are tripe, and maybe the majority of them. I do not believe in the argument that we should read just to read. Reading ought to be enlightening in some way, or short of that an enjoyable recreation. I've set aside many books which did not address either of those concerns. I will even concede that some books need to be fought through in order to get the point. Orwell's classic 1984 for example took me about five tries to get through because the first thirty or thirty five pages are just dreary. But when I finally finished it, I had to conclude that it deserves its classic status.
Yes, I realize that taste is in play, and that taste does vary. I know of people who have enjoyed books which I just could not get into, and no doubt I've loved books others despise. Then there are authors who write very well yet I cannot read with any satisfaction. The science fiction author Robert Heinlein comes to mind for me. He writes very well but at the end of the day his philosophy is too different from mine, and that clouds my reading. And it isn't as though I haven't made a serious try at reading him. I've read four of his works and just can't get beyond my ultimate disagreements with the man. However, if you are interested in how Hollywood can destroy an intriguing idea, read Heinlein's Starship Troopers then watch the movie of the same name. Even though I don't, in the end, agree with his premise, Hollywood simply massacred what is arguably a subject worth serious discussion.
So the bottom line is this. I'm stuck wanting to read something new and worthwhile and have no idea what to look for. Any suggestions?