What's your favorite "easy to read" chess book

Hi guys

Ok, this sounds lazy to ask for an easy to read book about chess. I'm actually not asking that but couldn't find other way to put it in the title.

I know the rules and i'm familiar ( but far from using those well ) the basic principles:
.Develop minor pieces toward the center
.Continue develop minor pieces like bishop/knight
.Castle
.try to connect rooks and prepare the attack ( or counter )

So yeah, pretty much a big newbie.

What I meant by easy to read book is that i'm looking for a book where the author invites you to think, to develop your logical thought process, in words instead of exercizing or memorising on a ton of examples and lines. I might enjoy it later but i'm more of a feel guy who loves to play with the dynamic of a game and the tempo

( i.e.: I was semi poker professional and at that time i hated the mathematical approach of it, studied my opponent tendencies and the dynamics of the whole table to exploit it even though i left myself sometimes exploitable )

I was adviced for 3 books ( I have a 50$ budget top, still a broke student :) ):
.Predator at the chess board VolI and II  wich is quite big but has excellent reviews

.Silman's endgame book

.Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca

Your help and advice would be more than welcome. I won only 1 match in the 9 I played and I really hate HATE to loose or to think myself as weak

I like enjoyment books on history with a few games. Many of the McFarland hardcover books fall into this catagory.  Also Bob Long's Lasker & His Contemporaries , I think he has 6 issues are super great. he has no web site though but you can get him at info@chessbutler.com   Have no idea how many he has left but he is about to come out with a NEW catalog I am sure he will send you. I have no affiliation with Bob Long. It's just he puts out chess publications that no one else would think of and they are great. 

Dodgernation: I already was quite interested in Erving Chernev's book so definetly going to consider this one, thanks! Was it your first ?

Wiscmike: I've a hard time finding what you mean ( I am looking for tactical books and not so much history :) Or did I misunderstand ? ). I found "
Laske's manuel of chess publisher new edition " on amazon. It hasn't been reviewed much and seems old ( 80years ) but the content looks very tempting and close to what i'm looking for. have you read it?

Feel free for other suggestions!! Going to purchase this WE

I'm still exploring the chess world that's why i prefer to point it out ^^
If i stand correctly, any one of those three ( Laskers manual/Chernev's Logical Chess or Capablanca's Fundamentals ) would be a good choice for me.
I intend to take it slow and steady and can afford only 2 book for now. So should i look to buy two of them ( two that would complete each other well ) or one of them would suffice and i can get maybe the 2nd book a little more specific subject ( For instance: Silman's complete endgame book ).

I recommend "My System" by GM Aron Nimzovitch. The book opens with showing you basic principals, and how to apply them in your own games, and then moves on to how to play positionally in a correct and orderly fashion.

+1 for Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals...I own it and will never get rid of it.  It's a thin book but Capablanca crams a TON of key ideas for a beginner to know and gives you ideas on how to think, plus he annotates 14 of his own games, all against strong contemporaries(make sure to get the algebraic version).  

Are they easy to read?

Bobby Fischer teaches chess

Its a great quick tactics improvement book. 

At the moment i intend to buy "Logical Chess Move by Move" because the other ones i've mention a little bit earlier ( Funamentals and Lasker's Manual ) are hard to get in belgium and for amazon, i have to go threw .fr wich means 2-4weeks shipping wiiiiich i don't have the patience for :D
And also of course because it has excellent reviews overall.

I have a question for those who have read Silman's endgame ( wich i was thinking to buy as complementary book ). I see that it's devided by skill level ranking. But since i have already a hard time to beat the 1200 is it still worth it? Half of the book implies a skill level of 1199-2399!

Thanks for the tips guys, always very helpfull!! Hope other beginner could benificiate of this thread too

My favorite is Russian Chess by Bruce Pandolfini. It is a very underrated book and IMO probably Pandolfini's best. Close second is Weapons of Chess coincidentally also by Mr. Pandolfini, this is quite possibly the easiest chess book I have, requires no board and has a lot of usefull info.

I have tried reading about 30 chess books. I never found one that was "easy" to read. Never made it through a whole one.

I know this is different for different people, but that's my experience.

It depends on your level. Do you know about pins, skewers, forks, etc?

AWESOME!!!! I was just about to post the same thing.

It sounds like a cheesie book, but it is a good inspirational book.

Predator at the chessboard is a perfect book to introduce you the basic tactics (pins, forks, basic mates etc). The author starts every chapter with the absolutely simple motif, and gradually he builds up the necessary thought process to find(or create) those tactics in more complex positions. You can find the whole book here http://www.chesstactics.org/

I know about it. But I sure don't exploit it very well.

It looked good to me too. Only little problem I have is that it would be 2 big books and though the only book i'll read for a time. That's also why i was wondering if other book could more or less do the same job but in one book. A few have been presented earlier.
I knew the site, i'm just not a good reader on screen i prefer hardcover in those matters

If u want easy to read books, Bruce Pandolphini's books are excellent, especially for lower level players.  For all levels  I suggest Dan Heismann's Chess Cafe articles  and his books.   If you want easy and enjoyable instructional materials  not necessarily books, I suggest you watch Dan Heismann's videos. I have learned a lot from them and my chess has improved more than somewhat due to them. They are excellent for all levels,  to watch them you need to sign up with ICC. 

So many choices :D Not easy
Here is a list of books recommended in this thread at the moment:

.Erving Chernev's classic Logical Chess Move By Move
.John Nunn's Understanding chess move by move
.Laske's manuel of chess ( recommended 3x )
.Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca ( recommended 2x )
.Silmans Complete Endgame Course ( recommended 2x )
."My System" by GM Aron Nimzovitch
.Bruce Pandolfini's books ( recommended 2x )
.Predator at the chessboard ( recommended 2x )
.Dan Heisman's books

"Grandmaster of Chess" Paul Keres

"Grandmaster Prepartation" Lev Polugayevsky

"Think Like a Granmaster" Kotov

Any of Botvinnik's books.

"The Life and Games of Makail Tal"  Makail Tal

We may not have liked the Soviets very much, but their contribution to the Academy of Chess is unparalleled .