Not quite restricted to 3 books....so choose among these 3 categories....each book is excellent for its intended purpose.....and appropriate for those striving to reach 2000...
1. General chess coverage - "The Amateur's Mind" by Jeremy Silman and/or "The Soviet Chess Primer" by Ilya Maizelis.
2. Focused on Positional-Strategic chess - "Simple Chess" (don't let the title fool you!) by Michael Stean and also by John Emms. Same title, different authors, similar concepts. Note: Emms wrote 2 volumes, which can now be purchased in a single book. Consider also "Elements of Positional Evaluation" by Dan Heisman.
3. Endgame - Either of - "Silman's Complete Endgame Course" by Jeremy Silman - or - "100 Endgames You Must Know" by Jesus de la Villa.
If you diligently study the books from these three categories, you should be well prepared and able to reach your goal.
You might also discover something of interest here...
Good Chess Books for Beginners and Beyond...
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/good-chess-books-for-beginners-and-beyond
If you had 3 books to recommend to a player aiming for 2000 what would they be ?