I'd recommend the Aubrey/Maturin series (Wikipedia link) by Patrick O'Brian to everyone.

When they were first suggested to me, I was very unsure - a series of books set during the Napoleonic Wars, set mostly on ships sounded pretty dull. But when I started reading them, they swallowed me whole. They are adventurous, fascinating and very detailed but also full of heart, life and often very, very funny which was a surprise (pun intended for those who've read them).

You don't need to know anything about the Royal Navy, sailing or the time period, all will be laid out to you - it's the same as realising you don't need to be a medical expert to enjoy ER or House - and really, although ship-life is vividly portrayed, the cornerstone of the series of books is the unlikely friendship between Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin.

As I read in a literary review of the series: "There are two types of people in the world: Patrick O’Brian fans, and people who haven’t read him yet."

The first book in the series is Master & Commander (the movie that was made about the novels with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany took its name from this first book). I urge you to do yourself a favour and give it a try.