Back to the Basics?

So I was checking out some book lists online. Just to see what some highly rated/current books are out there for learning the dark and mysterious art of 3D. It turns out I have in my possession one of the top books on the list! After giving it a quick skim-through, I found that there was a lot in it that I knew very little or nothing about. It's been almost 2 years since I purchased this book for school and it's not until now that I'm going through it. I think I completed the first couple chapters, but after that it was just "rush, rush, rush, get everything done", and sadly, the book eventually found itself in a stack of other books.

Well no more! It's free of dust, and it's being absorbed whether I have to go through it with a magnifying glass carefully reading every line of text, or if I have to rip out the pages, throw them in a bowl and have a textbook salad. It's totally getting done.