SEO?

I'm reading a book on SEO content. I got it for free, while at the LA Times Festival of Books last year (and Mom, I'm telling you right now, I WANT TO GO AGAIN! LETS MAKE PLANS TO GO!). Honestly, I don't understand it. And I'm not sure sure if it's because I'm such a newbie at SEO or if it's because it's a bad book. According the reviews on Amazon (which I looked up after I started reading it), either everyone loves it or it's a terrible book. Honestly, the thing that stuck out most was a review that added a note about the author calling them asking them to change their review (they gave it a 3 stars and was asked to give a better review).

Now, I'm not stupid. I'm actually very smart and learn quite easily through books. So I'm guessing between the reviews I read and my own problems understanding it, it's a bad book.

Which leads me to my next step, finding a good way to learn SEO. Anybody have any good ideas?