For someone coming from a totally different field, I'd actually recommend the opposite approach: start with pop-econ to actually develop an interest, then move on to more serious academic works. Starting from zero, a textbook risks being far too boring to stick with. Best to generate an interest first, then dive deeper once you've got a context and hunger to know more.
Yeah, I think the best econ and finance journalists are more captivating than a textbook. I'd recommend Matt Levine, Tim Hartford, anything in the Economist magazine Paul Krugman's early essays (before he became a political columnist) as well as the Freakonomics and econtalk podcasts as a general introduction.
