Fear of Fish

Recommended for Beginners

This was one of the first books I picked up (although this is the second edition of that book, I read the first also). It begins by running you through setting up your first application, an ecommerce store. As the authors trundle along with the store they explain the basics and the concepts behind Rails, giving you information on why Rails chooses "Convention over Configuration" and other tidbits of info, as well as pointing you in the right direction with best practises. Bear in mind that this is aimed at the beginner, so these bits of information aren't in-depth, they merely hint at what you'll need to know. By the end of the first Chapter you have your first simple application up and running with some reasonable functionality.

The next few chapters fill the gaps that may have been left out by the initial rush through getting going, and I think they do a very good job of starting you off in the world of Rails. Nearer the back of the book is a more in-depth look at the libraries and functions you have available to you, which was more my cup of tea. It delves into different ways you can use ActiveRecord, why some pieces work and some don't etc.

Overall I'd say this is a great book to start with if you're familiar with web development in general and want to dive into Rails.