Jay Heinrichs has written a wonderful book about rhetoric titled Thank You For Arguing. As a former speech competitor and coach, I couldn't get enough of this stuff. I agree with him 1000% that the art of rhetoric has suffered in today's electronic age, and I would love nothing more than for language itself--witty banter, educated discourse, double entendre, . . . the whole smash--to make a glorious comeback.
Gavin DeBecker's The Gift of Fear is an amazing book. Not only is it the easiest read I've ever encountered in non-fiction, but it's one of those books that answers the question, "Why doesn't life come with an instruction manual?" This is it. This one right here. I even gave this book to everyone I could one Christmas. DeBecker, who runs the foremost personal security firm on the planet, demonstrates how intuition works and explains how best to listen to it. In many cases, this has saved people's lives. He's written several follow-up books, including one that focuses on child safety and (of course) one that addresses the fears raised by the September 11th tragedy. I keep waiting for him to publish more, but those who have read his books know that he's got enough to do already.
Finally, no book list of mine would be complete without Douglas Adams' The Hitchhker's Guide to the Galaxy. A trilogy in five parts (which more or less sums up the humor we're dealing with here), this story begins as a simple science fiction romp and winds up being an impressive philosophical adventure. You have to appreciate British humor to really get the full force of it, and if you can you're in for an awesome read. Adams did some other work as well, but this series (originally developed as a radio program) has the greatest following. It's become my all-time favorite book, and I have the tattoo to prove it.
