What's a good book for a relative beginner?

Lasker's Manual of Chess is available in a revised version with algebraic notation. I have it. Got it from Amazon.

Would I be ready for amateurs mind? I'm good enough to beat non chess players.

Good to know, thanks!

A book like Amateur's Mind isn't going to help you when you drop a piece by the 5th move.

I'm not putting these games in here to humiliate you or anything, but to demonstrate the level of chess you're playing.  You need to do a good course on tactics.  Once you get to the point when you don't drop material, you can start to focus on other things.

If you knew nothing about chess but tactics, and routinely keep your pieces safe and take advantage of your opponents when they don't, you will be a 1600+ player.

1. Study tactics
2. Play slow games
3. Analyze your games to see what mistakes you made.  Over time you start to eliminate your mistakes and play more consistently.
4. Read annotated master games.

These threads are constantly littered with bad advice by players who have no clue and it's a shame.  People who suggest reading some endgame manual or HTRYC should be banned. What good is reading My System when you drop two pieces by move 10?  It's completely worthless and a waste of time.    You're going to read it, feel good about all your new chess strategy knowledge, and get shredded game after game because you can't see basic tactics.

90% of the people who give that advice are the same people who have been class C players for 5 years and wonder why they don't get any better.  They've read 20 chess books on strategy and endgames, yet they routinely get beat at the club by 12 year olds who have read 1 book on chess but play lights out tactically.

Chess isn't 99% tactics, it's 100% tactics because every move has to be justified tactically.   Making a nice outpost for your knight is meaningless if you hang a rook.

Do the Dan Heisman method.  Get Bain's "Chess Tactics for Students" and repeat the problems over and over until you can do 85% of the problems in 15 seconds or less.  It's not enough to be accurate, you have to be accurate in a reasonable amount of time.  The problems in that book are basic, but they will hard for you at first.  You need to learn to count before you can learn to add and subtract.

/soapbox

Tell him SilentKnight, that chess.com tactics trainer is what he needs.  If one can't dedicate 7$ a month to chess, one should not study chess.

My first book was chess for dummies and I liked it :)

Tactics Trainer is crap.  It's better than nothing I guess, but it's crap compared to other tactics servers.

lichess has one.

Go with the Amateurs Mind

Chess Tempo is head and shoulders above chess.com.  It's like comparing authentic home cooked Italian food to Olive Garden.

I've worked 3,547 problems at lichess so far and never had a browser issue.

Worked fine for me on Chrome.

Look no further

Is that why you can only get it to 1400?  Because it's crap?  Because most 2000+ chess.com users have their tactics trainer well above 2000.  The bottom line is, if you cant get your tactics trainer above 2000, you can't say it's crap, and I'd have to say you don't know what the hell you're talking about.  

Just use chesstempo, it's easily at the top end of tactics sites. Theres also chessemerald and others, but I prefer chesstempo.

It's objectively crap compared to other tactics servers.   You can believe me or not believe me.  End of discussion.

Why on earth would you need a TT above 2000 to say there are better TT tools elsewhere ? I don't follow your logic.

The fact that tactics trainer doesnt have a rated untimed version, and that it's limited use for nonpaying members makes it inferior to a number of other tactics sites.

Some people don't like to be told they are wasting their money. ;)

I support chess.com.  Their tactics trainer is top notch, not crap.  And, their 'Chess Mentor' is better than ANY book for beginners, it's written by Jeremy Silman for christ's sake.  And 'those' are ONLY 2 of the many things chess.com makes available for 7$ a month.

 And hey, guess what, if you want to be stingy, and non supportive?  you can still play all the chess you want here on their servers!  So, you're welcome!