Geez, I almost feel out of place in stating that I don't find Rand's ideas all that great . It's good writing and there are many good points, but Immanuel Kant happens to be one of my favourite philosophers, and her books do a terrible job on describing him (the two actually would actually agree on much, though he's essentially the great satan in Objectivist literature I've read).
As far as a favourite author, I read pretty widely and I really don't have a "favourite", but for history buffs I would recommend reading John Adams by David McCullough (one of the recent books I read). It gives great insights and information into the life of a usually overlooked Founding Father.