You MUST read the Anne McCaffrey dragon series (Dragon this of Pern, Dragon that of Pern), as Gary suggested. Here is a link to the reading order:
http://www.annemccaffrey.net/2006-Pern-Reading-Order.pdf. There is a sub-series about a young lady and "mini-dragons" that is quite good (I think it fits in the middle of one of the dragon series books). It is pure escapism. I found her other series provided the same escapism value but without all the dragons (something about a crystal singer).
Other similar authors: Andre Norton, Ursula K. LeGuin. I could read all 3 authors all day/night long. They are a bit mushy/girlie but I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, in private.
The Dune (Frank Herbert) series was good. Anything by Douglas Adams (combines sci-fi with humor). The Hitchhiker's Guide "trilogy" is classic/a must read.
The "Gor" series (John Norman) was...interesting, a bit brutal at times, and a bit sexy at times (not porn though). Not for the squeamish, though. Exactly the opposite of some of the more "principled" books I mention later.
An obvious set of books are the middle earth books by J.R.R. Tolkien. I used to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit once a year. If you can stand it, the Silmarilion (SP?) is interesting and fits together nicely with LOTR.
For a sci-fi character you love to hate, try Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series. Easy read and you hate the hero but want everything to work out for him.
Piers Anthony writes some pretty good stuff. I particularly loved his "Xanth" series. There was also a series about a magician in an alternate universe, one of the titles was "The Blue Adept" (I think the first in the series). Those were good and would transition nicely from your witch readings.
I particularly enjoyed the 7 books in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. Chock full of Christian principles but the stories are quite good.
Some web comics are good. Banana is always linking some interesting new web comic. I end up spending huge hours chasing one or the other of his links.
Harder, less sci-fi stuff, but still good: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, War and Peace (if you can get through the middle) by Tolstoi, The Holy Bible. These will all take some time but are worth it. Don't think of it as self help as there are some really interesting stories in the Bible and although there are potential life lessons in all three, the stories can be quite provocative.
All this should take you about 6 months to read. Better get to work.