Here's a subject a bit arcane, but totally fascinating: Writing systems of the world's languages. How did they develop? What's the difference between logographic versus syllabic versus "abugidas" systems? Appetite whetted? Check out these books:
A History of Writing: From Hieroglyph to Multimedia by Ann-Marie Christin
The World's Writing Systems by Peter T. Daniels
Writing Systems: A Linguistic Introduction by Geoffrey Sampson
Breaking the Maya Code by Michael D. Coe
The Story of Decipherment: From Egyptian Hieroglyphs to Maya Script by Maurice Pope
