The Grapes of Math: How Life Reflects Numbers and Numbers Reflect Life

I first read this in high school, while wading through basic algebra and geometry classes. Bellos' knack in writing comes from how he conveys increasingly complex ideas in bite-size chunks, giving the reader the sweetest parts and applications without overlooking the actual mathematics. That said, you don't need to actually understand half of what is written to understand the takeaways. Furthermore, every chapter he completely resets the complexity of the concepts he builds on. If you enjoy trivia and insightful facts, this is a bookshelf must. My one caveat is that now that I do have a mathematical degree and that professional background, a lot of the book feels patronizingly baby-talk-ish, so (while that is on me) maybe this isn't the book for the astrophysicist in your life, but definitely the aspiring ones.