Reddit mentions of One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies: Battle And Tactics Of Chinese Warfare

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Classical_Novels

These are great reads, particularly Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Water Margin. There is a modern martial arts film called Chi Bi, or Red Cliff that you might have heard about that is based on RotTK. That book is about 2,000 pages long, but there is an abridged 500 page one that is pretty good. One of the characters in that book, Zhuge Liang, also known as Konming, is one of the best military strategists who has ever lived. He wrote a commentary based on the book The Art of War, which a lot of martial artists read.

You should definitely check out The Art of War by Sun Tzu and
Mastering the Art of War by Zhuge Liang http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-Shambhala-Dragon-Editions/dp/0877735131

Another good book is 100 Unorthodox strategies http://www.amazon.com/One-Hundred-Unorthodox-Strategies-Tactics/dp/0813328616/

It contains many stories about famous battles in ancient China and how various warlords tricked or outmaneuvered others in battle in very creative ways.

There is also a series of comic books translated from the Chinese that deliver certain ancient texts or biographies of ancient China in a great format http://www.amazon.com/Confucius-Speaks-Tsai-Chih-Chung/dp/0385480342

The author is Tsai Chih Chung and he has written over 100 of these books.

The literature of ancient China is useful because it was highly influential on Chinese and indirectly Japanese martial arts. Principles of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism can be found in martial arts philosophy.

Some books, like the 4 classics I mentioned above, were so widely written that there are huge elements found in every aspect of the modern day. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is sort of how the English view Robbin Hood and King Arthur. It basically defines their culture. The glaring example of how Journey to the West has modern influence is that the popular Japanese Anime Dragon Ball Z is loosely based on a Japanese version of the same story.

Water Margin is notable because certain forms of kung fu described in that book are still practiced today like Poking Foot Kung Fu also known as Water Margin Bandit Style https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq8GIdVumFo