I read "The 1000 Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" and it's great, although it's only available in hardbound right now.

I would also suggest Jean Auel's first novel, "Clan of the Cave Bear" (forget the movie). There is just nothing like it and it's full of some cool thoughts about prehistoric man. It's a great lead-in to the Earth's Children series.

A good paperback, that's better than the movie - though I liked the movie too - is "Snow Falling on Cedars".