Programming Ruby

It is the “go to” Ruby book for a reason. If you want to learn Ruby (why wouldn't you?) you pretty much HAVE to read it. A number for things that I didn't quite understand earlier, have just “clicked” when reading this book. I definitely feel like knowledge I got from it was worth the time spend reading this book.

If you're a complete complete Ruby novice (like me) you will want to read straight through the first 3 parts. Part 4 is a dry Ruby Library Reference, so you may want to leave that out until you need something specific from it.
If you know a bit about Ruby and programming in general you may simply refer to specific chapters for help in understanding specific topics. The chapter on metaprogramming is a doozy. :-)