I recommend that everyone reads some Christopher Hitchens. You may know him from The Nation or Vanity Fair, but don't pass judgment based on what you think of those publications. He's witty (in the dry English way), immensely erudite, and famously opinionated. Hitchens skewers the left and the right with equal energy, and he loves to rip back the curtain to reveal the chicanery and mendacity of The Wizard. I just plowed through two of his books (The Trial of Henry Kissinger and Why Orwell Matters) and enjoyed them equally to his controversial The Missionary Position, a long essay on the less-than-saintly Mother Theresa. He critiques those who are believed to be beyond reproach, and he relishes the opportunity to sacrifice sacred cows in the name of full disclosure. What could be more fun?

With all that, what's best about Hitchens, beyond persuasive arguments and entertaining prose, is his command of the English language. His pieces are lessons in vocabulary and structure. I guarantee the need of a dictionary at the bedside and some brush-up from your handy college writing text. These, to many, may be reasons enough to avoid the "H" aisle and dart to the John Grisham display, but, if you're looking to work out the brain a bit, take a crack at any of his books.