I've watched the following recently which I can highly recommend:
Clannad
Toradora
Noein
Steins;Gate
Genshiken
I, myself, have watched a ton of anime (and still do) over the years. A lot of the new stuff is pretty bad, but there are usually one or two good anime in a season with maybe 1 really outstanding anime every year or two that's a must watch. Steins;Gate was really awesome and I highly recommend it - the first episode can be confusing, but there's a reason for that and it all makes sense at the end (get the OVA as well to have a nice wrap up to the story).
Also, Genshiken is awesome too. It takes the otaku culture and makes it into an anime, rather successfully, which is both interesting and hilarious at the same time. I really love the cosplay parts in it too!