I also meant to say that you may face in part what budding programmers face: Find that 1% of books and materials that are really a class above in their clarity

I also meant to say that you may face in part what budding programmers face: Find that 1% of books and materials that are really a class above in their clarity -- and, being so effective, often in their brevity, as well. I don't have a list at hand and may not be the one to provide one. But... you might look around and cross reference comments to find the "quintessential" works on these topics. One exceptional book can be worth (more than) a car load of the alternatives.