THIS book is a great choice for newbies. I know because I am one. Honestly, I have wanted to put up preserves for some time but was put off by the books I read. I think my sense of being in over my head came from the fact that I couldn't 'visualize' exactly what needed to be done. Ball's approach in this BACK TO BASICS book is much more my style. I LOVE the lists of equipment needed and the explanations .AND. photos of how things need to be done.

Need to know what a good set looks like? There's a photo.
Not sure exactly how to measure 'headspace'... there's a photo.

There are a variety of recipes and many of them, like the one I made --Blueberry Jam-- are simple and relatively quick. Basically, you only need your canning supplies and 4 ingredients: blueberries, pectin, sugar and lemon juice. And I really liked that there was a low sugar version and you were told ahead of time, how the low-sugar jam would be slightly different than the full sugar. (It's basically not as thick.)

Recommended to Noobs like myself.