Starter Kit for the Universe Hitchhiker

If you’re anything like I was, you were more concerned in school with the arts than the sciences, and definitely skipped physics your senior year.  I floated through college, oblivious to quarks and celeritas. What did I need science for? It’s not like I was planning to work in a lab.
Turns out I made the wrong decision. Soon enough, we’ll need to understand what a qubit is just so we can blog from our quantum computers. Don’t worry, it’s never too late to learn the basics of gravity, dark matter, and everything in between. So take that index finger and push up your wireframes. Here’s the syllabus for your crash course:
The Universe in the Rearview Mirror: How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality, by Dave Goldberg
If you’re looking for a book that’s funny AND explains the Higgs Boson (you know, that recently discovered particle that could be the basis for LIFE as we know it? Yeah, that one), then this is your book. In addition to giving readers an overview on the history of the universe to date, Goldberg keeps things interesting with glorious references to Dungeons and Dragons, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Empire Strikes Back, and Dr. Who.
The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene
Subatomic particle interactions, special relativity, and an introduction to string theory: what more can you want? Greene writes from a strictly scientific perspective while making seriously complicated theories digestible for the average Joe. You won’t be an expert by the end, but you may begin to understand what’s out there.
Grand Design, by Stephen Hawking
I know you know who Stephen Hawking is, but have you read the guy? Pretty smart dude. If you’re looking for a book that’s more discussion and less historical overview, then this is the one. Hawking explores some mind-blowing ideas about the universe via quantum theory and the multiverse. What is the multiverse, you say? Just the idea that our universe is only one of many spontaneously created universes coexisting simultaneously. NBD.
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
Sagan is the O.G. astrophysicist who first decoded the universe for laymen in the 1980s. His Cosmos, a best-seller based on his award-winning TV show of the same name, explains 15 billion years’ worth of history without making it a chore to read. Though a little dated, the book is an awesome foundation for your understanding of astronomy and cosmology.
Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein’s Outrageous Legacy, by Kip S. Thorne
Remember that Ren and Stimpy episode where they travel through a black hole only to discover that all of the world’s missing socks have ended up on the other side? While it turns out that (spoiler alert) black holes are not the answer to our lost-sock problem, this book will tell you what they really are and why they don’t suck (the idea that they suck up everything around them is misinformation, but I’m pretty sure Kip Shorne can give a better explanation for this than I can).
What’s your favorite layman’s science book?