The book was a great supplement to a course I was taking, called Statistical Data Analysis. The course dealt with using different tools for analyzing sociological, political and economics datasets and inferring some interesting conclusions. The concept of the course was similar to that of the book, but the major difference was that we were presented with the data, told exactly what to look for, and of course advised to apply the tools we have learnt in the previous lectures.

I really enjoyed the book as it introduced me to a different perspective and influenced my critical thinking in a good way. Particularly with respect to the conventional wisdom we are presented in our everyday lives.

Throughout the book it seemed like the authors were talking to the data, which in turn made the story and the conclusions flow naturally. The book also didn't lack communication with the reader, as we were constantly teased and pushed to make our own assumptions and draw our own conclusions.

I like how in the Explanatory note, the author Steven Levitt mentions that he just doesn't know very much about the field of economics, is not particularly good at math, econometrics or theory, but he is simply interested in the riddles of everyday life as a curious explorer. The reader can anticipate a friendly atmosphere and a light and interesting read from the beginning.

I also appreciate how the authors emphasize the importance of fact checking. They disprove some of the modern misconceptions due to falsely interpreting the data, e.g. false cause-effect inference, disregarding incentives, not controlling for other effects, etc.

I would definitely recommend the book to everyone who would like to experience a fresh view of the world, get a glimpse of economics from a different perspective and really enjoy the intriguing topics written in a natural flow. I would especially recommended the book to students who did an introductory economics/data analysis/econometrics course, since the book shows you the interesting questions you can ask and answer using the (boring) tools learned in the courses.