I'm looking at you, Microsoft Product Writers, although you're certainly not alone. In 240 pages and 2 days I learned, easily comprehended, and retained more about the fundamentals of a SQL server than I ever did reading many of those "Introduction To..." behemoths.

The book starts with introducing you to both the product as well as database design and efficient database/table creation. Following this is an excellent overview of using MySQL and the MySQL-flavor of SQL focused on language (query language keywords, functions, etc), table types (MyISAM, InnoDB, etc), and transactions. You're reading is concluded with an excellent overview of general administration and optimization. Each section is broken down into discussion, fully-functional examples, a quiz, and to-do exercises, ensuring that you get to implement and solidify the skills you just acquired.

At the time of my writing this, the book is 4 years old, and the version of MySQL it addresses (4.x) has already been upgraded. I knew that when I purchased the book, and it doesn't matter as the fundamentals haven't changed. MySQL may have released improved GUI tools to accomplish many tasks as well as introducing additional features, but the underlying SQL language, design methods, and structure is the same, and knowing/understanding the fundamentals improves your efficiency and makes using the product easier.

As the purpose of this book is to teach you the fundamentals of database design and creation, this will not be your last purchase. But for those new to MySQL, you can not go wrong starting here, even now.