Freakonomics

There always comes a time when life feels redundant. Nothing ever happens, and you need something totally different to turn it on its head. This is the time to pick up Freakonomics. Suddenly, a whole new way of looking at the world enters your head. Drug markets become respectable monarchies. Schoolteachers are pitted against sumo wrestlers. And the best part is, you're pulled into Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's way of thinking seamlessly. Each chapter opens with a thought-provoking proposition that makes you first scoff and then puzzle over the answer. Charts, statistics, and intriguing try-it-yourself examples are sprinkled throughout the pages to prove Levitt and Dubner's chapter argument. My eyes tend to skim over any passages in books that I find overly confusing, and I don't think I did so once while reading Freakonomics. In fact, all that's left to do now is get my hands on the sequel.