"One hundred years of solitude" - Garcia Marquez masterwork is really absorbing, and a great introduction to Magic Realism genre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_realism (Marquez, Isabel Allende, Laura Esquivel).
I tried it in my initial years of reading, some 13 years ago. I gave it up after some 90 pages. Maybe the current, disciplined me, should give it a retry.
As for the OP's question, I would suggest a book like Sapiens, by Yuval Harari. It's written in uncomplicated language, a broad topic, engagingly written. FWIW, I gave out at least seven copies of it as a present to friends (who are not serious readers). Most of them really appreciated it.
But... I think I read it only once about 10 years ago and I can remember the first paragraphs about the coronel and the ice.
If you are into storytelling, there are some great Little books from Garcia Marquez script workshop.