My Recommendations...
One perennial favorite of mine is the Medicine Cards. I've used this for both public and private readings. It's a great alternative to tarot, or for people who connect to animals, or for connecting to one's animal totem(s). It's very flexible for reading on mundane issues, very deep issues, or as a daily draw deck. It's not the prettiest animal deck on the market (and I've had most all of them at one time or other), but it's the one that seems to have stayed around, for some reason.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/medicine-cards/
My other all-time keeper is the Healing with the Angels Oracle. I favor this one over the others of that ilk for a few reasons. The real biggie is because it has only one or two words on each card, as opposed to small paragraphs. This makes reading the cards more open to interpretation. Also, I prefer the understated, classic artwork of this first of DV's decks, as opposed to the later stuff. I recognize that most of the oracles that followed are over-the-top gorgeous, but over-the-top gorgeous doesn't necessarily translate to readable for me. Lastly, I found my Healing with the Angels Oracle in Spanish, which was personally important to me. In my experience, this deck is very good for spiritual issues, or for connecting with passed loved ones; however, it's not so easy for me to read on mundane stuff with this one.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/healing-with-angels-oracle/
The third and last deck I will recommend is Froud's Faeries Oracle. The art is exquisite (IMHO), and the book is wonderfully written. The cards are surprisingly accessible and conducive to reading for self or others. Like the Medicine Cards, it works well for both major crossroads issues, as well as the more day-to-day stuff. Querents respond very well to the faeries, in my experience. One additional advantage I find with this oracle is the deck size; it's closer to a standard tarot card size, as opposed to, say, the Doreen Virtue decks or the Medicine Cards. So, this is nice for someone in search of a quality oracle in a size closer to standard tarot cards...as long as you like faeries, of course.
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/faeries-oracle/
EDIT:
Oops, I see that Morgane_49 also recommended the Faeries Oracle. Well, that's what I get for posting while watching TV, LOL. Anyway, "ditto" on what she said, too...