I'm looking for a good introduction to stocks book. Something clear, well-written, but still not too simple. It doesn't have to be a text-book of any sorts, just that it's fun and enjoyable to read and, of course, gets everything straight. I googled around and found multiple lists of books yet none of the arguments for them made me buy one. It seems like there are too many options to choose from, and it's not clear what is for beginners and what is not.

What I want: to understand how the whole stock market works in principal and what are the major things one should know in order to understand IPOs, stock plummeting etc. better.

I don't need to get into stocks, I'm not planning to invest in anything. I just want to understand the whole thing.

Thank you a lot!