Comment by eimrine

Ian Stewart never disappoints and seems related to OP's request. His "Nature of Numbers" is exactly that, also this is the first English book (foreign language for me) which I have read without any need of dictionary.

"The Great Mathematical Problems" is about reading a chapter, then taking a rest, then reading another. "Nature of Numbers" can be read in one attempt and my emotion about that is I want this book to be several times thicker. The illustrations are among the best mathematical images I ever seen, despite being monochrome.