Settlers isn't just last year, it's last century (1995). It did however spawn an entire new genre of boardgames with less emphasis on money and conquest, and more on game balance, allowing trailing players to catch up, and creating a variety of different strategies to win (TMTOWTDI).
I'm just back from the Dutch gaming convention, and picked up Powergrid and Pandemic - highly recommended. Other favorites are Race For The Galaxy and Agricola.
Yes, Settlers is an old hat for people who living in or next to Germany. (It's not the new "Monopoly", yet, but comes close for some circles of gamers.)
Caylus is worth a look, too. For a medium-light and fun game, take a look at St. Petersburg. Tongiaki has very elegant game mechanisms (and you can do a nasty things to your fellow players).
If you are only playing with your spouse, Roma and Lost Cities are worth a look. The latter being a very nice gateway drug for non-gamers.
Seriously, I've never gotten much of a chance to play Settlers because most of my friends were bored with it by 2001 or so. And my not-particularly-geeky 60+ year old parents were taught to play it by their friends about five years ago...
I'm just back from the Dutch gaming convention, and picked up Powergrid and Pandemic - highly recommended. Other favorites are Race For The Galaxy and Agricola.