Lion 'Help' books

I first bought the OS X Lion for DUMMIES. It didn't answer the questions that I had. I spent some time reading reviews on Amazon, and looking my questions up in the Lion books in Barnes and Noble. I found the best answers in The Mac OS X Lion Pocket Guide. It is a relatively small book, inexpensive enough that I bought it. Surprisingly, it has answered almost all the questions/problems I've had. The index, (possibly the most important part of any reference book), is excellent, thus my answers have been quickly found. Knowing the answers, I've again examined some of the larger books and find the indices generally not adequate, and the information not concise like in the little pocket guide.
I like to know a lot about subjects I'm interested in, so I'll eventually buy one of the larger books. I do want to make it clear that my experience and choice in choosing the book I did suits me just fine, but of course it's not the perfect tool; it may not be the best choice for you, the reader. I'd suggest you write down some of your questions and look them up in the books at your bookstore. You are then better able to find the one that satisfies you. I, incidentally, would very much like to read about your experiences / choices in this forum. I would benefit from them when looking for my 'big book'.

I gave up on buying books on OS as it won't be long until we're onto the next version and once that happens the book has very little value.

If you really want to get to know your Mac, start with the Support Videos at here once you have worked your way through that then that Menu called Help and the end of every App Menu has a great book. There is a huge amount of effort that goes into those help books and they are specific to the App. 3rd party books don't give you more information they give you less as there is no way you could ship the amount of help provided in book form.

Once you have done the vids and read the Help menus then you will be in a good place to buy a specialist book.

That's a great point in your first sentence. And you've reminded me of those tutorial sites; I don't know why they slipped my mind, but that's one of the nice things about the forum. Thank you muchly--I'll do that.