Dear John,
I am so glad hear from you. Learn that you are working on Chinese, I strongly recommend the novel Journey to the West. The novel is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It tells about a Buddhist monk and his three disciples, animal with human characteristic,traveling west to India in search for Buddhist scriptures. I think, the study of this novel open the way to Chinese values and history, from what you will get a better understanding of Chinese culture. Beside, the novel offers a mixture of adventure and comedy, so while enjoying reading, you will surprisingly find you can speak and write in Chinese more fluent.
I hope you keep reading to enjoy the charm of Chinese language but you will achieve a great progress in your Chinese.