Books are more for the people that knowa there software. what i first recomend is that you start messing around inn max. start making simple objects. and do some polly modeling. and such.
and the easyest way to learn is trying to follow some basic video tutorials on the nett.
i recomend videos for beginners sinc there you can see were they push the buttons and such. for more proffesional peoplei recomend books and written tutorials.
and i recomend you start modeling with pollygons and no organic models :)
hope this helps a bit.
www.3dm3.com www.3dtotal.com
this are the two sites i begann with ^^
good luck.