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Oh man, this is potentially dangerous territory. I have very mixed feelings about the EU, and while I used to read quite a lot of it, I really didn't like a lot of what I read. However, here is what I would recommend...
Start with Timothy Zahn's original Thrawn trilogy, which starts with Heir to the Empire. I personally find them to be over-rated (though enjoyable), but they are quite well-liked by most EU readers.
Next, go with the New Jedi Order series, skipping everything published in between (go back at some later point if you feel a need/want to, but I don't recommend starting with them). There were A LOT of books published between the Thrawn trilogy and the New Jedi Order, but they are really inconsistent and some of them contradict each other. The New Jedi Order was the first effort to publish Star Wars books in logical, driven manner and this is how the books have been published ever since.
Those are all post-ROTJ, but some of the prequel era books are worth looking at too (this is actually my favorite era for written SW). Rogue Planet takes place between Ep1 and Ep2, and actually ties into the New Jedi Order. Yoda: Dark Rendezvous is quite good and takes place between Ep2 and Ep3. I recommend it even if that time frame isn't of interest to you and even though I would caution reading any Clone Wars era in general (the cartoon series pretty much negates all of them, which frustrated many people who read them).
My FAVORITE SW books, however, are actually an intermediate readers series published by Scholastic titled Jedi Apprentice, which chronicle the early adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. The same author also wrote a series with Obi-Wan and Anakin between Ep2 and Ep3 and another post-Ep3 series, both of which are very good, although Jedi Apprentice remains my favorite. Unfortunately, these are out of print and some of them can be expensive to buy when you find them.
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