.NET Framework Essentials, 3rd Edition

Rating:
Summary: To Software Developers: Don't Bother
Review: IMHO, OReilly tends to have the best technology books (I own many) but this book isn't one of them. This book is lightweight even as an introduction. This book is certainly fine for managers, senior architects, and business types, but if you plan to design and write software I recommend Jeff Prosise's "Programming Microsoft .NET" and Jeffrey Richter's "Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming", though a bit dated, both cover the .NET framework essentials and then some.

Rating:
Summary: OK but others are better
Review: It is a fairly shallow overview of the .NET framework. The author tries to cover a lot of ground but that means each topic worth a chapter in another topical book gets a few pages here at most.

The book could come in handy if you just want a quick refresher before you go out for a .NET-related job interview .. ;) but not for serious learning.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Very well written primer on the .Net framework, internal workings of the CLR and language fundamentals. Great book.