Ask HN: Best primer on the physics of the universe?

There has been a lot of buzz lately about research suggesting that there may not have been a 'Big Bang' at all. I realized upon hearing this that the only reason I assert the Big Bang to be true is because my teachers told me so and it has a catchy name.

I'd like to read a book (or books) about the physics of the universe. My goal would be to understand how we arrived at the theory of the big bang, what we have learned since then, and maybe get some insight into what new knowledge we have that makes a universe without a big bang a possibility. Textbooks are cool, as long as they are well written enough to read without falling asleep.

I have a decent grasp of college-level mathematics (just graduated with a math minor) but not much Physics. I took AP in high school and two semesters of physics in college.