i recently read
Naked Economics
and am planning on getting all my friends to read it.
its a very basic introduction to economics,but i found it extremely good at explaining the subject,which i knew little about other than vague ideas i had picked up (and usually misunderstood) here and there
i'm sure people who are into economics will list several books that they would prefer to make everyone read,however this one is perfect for the lay-reader,i had already dipped into a few other similar books and gotten confused,wheras this one did an excellent job of explaining all the basics to a novice such as myself.
i also loaned it to my dad,someone who would never normally read anything to do with economics,and he loved it too.