Freakonomics

Light, fast and very, very pop; this is to economics what “Dancing With the Stars” is to... Steve Wozniak. i.e. One features the other, but don't expect to learn much - at least, much reliable stuff. Many of the studies in this are showoffy analyses, some of which have been discredited due to shoddy regressioning.

Levitt considers himself very clever, and there is an element of fun that he brings to the field, but it's not terribly serious. Read this in one sitting, and now I have a stash of party ice breakers which are only potentially dodgy. Hey, did you know that names cycle through the socio-economic classes by decade? And you're less likely to get the interview if you have an identifiably African-American name? Well, possibly. Not sure about the numbers.

I guess Levitt's big contribution, like Jamie Oliver to cooking, is getting people (including economists) excited and inspired again about the field. If you're interesting in stereotype threat though, for example, I'd recommend Claude Steele instead...