Go to those sections (Philosophy and History) in your university library and read the titles of all the books. Take books which titles grab your attention, and read the table of contents. If you see a Chapter that interests you, read that chapter. If you think the book is worth reading whole, grab the book.
EDIT: Also consider subscribing to magazines. I love these: McSweeney's and Lapham Quarterly. McSweeneys is great for fiction and Lapham Quarterly for non fiction/historical perspectives on topics.
EDIT2: It is also important to remember that books are for you to enjoy and you should never feel forced to read books you don't want to read (except if it is required reading on a course) nor finish reading books just because you have started them (sunk cost fallacy).
But, there are advantages to reading whole texts, especially non-fiction. In today's day and age, we can search for terms and read precisely what we need for a paper. However, if you read the whole text you might read some unexpected gems that will enrich you. I find that reading the table of contents and skimming through paragraphs is a great way to avoid missing these gems. However, please note that "skimming" does not mean "move your eyes and pretend you are reading". You still need to make an effort to understand what the author is trying to convey. If you find yourself lost in thought after "skimming" through a couple of paragraphs then you are not doing it correctly. Ideally you want to summarize the paragraph to a single idea.
