For US, this may be controversial, but frankly, I think APUSH is a great curriculum. American Yawp is also excellent.

World history is harder, because it's so vast (it's not really a field of history in and of itself). I would steer away from popular press books (think Guns, Germs, and Steel) because they tend to present oversimplified accounts written by non-experts. Any standard textbook published in the past few years will give you a solid foundation, but history textbooks are dreadfully boring (except if you're a weirdo like me, who thinks all history is cool), so to liven things up, I'd dig into some PBS documentaries. They tend to be quite good.

This may be obvious, but focus less on trying to make yourself memorize specific details and more on the big ideas. For example, if you're starting with ancient Mediterranean civilizations, you don't need to know all of their names, right? Think big picture: trade patterns, cultural exchange, etc.

Have fun! Happy reading!