This is a topic that is likely to come up many times today.
Games work best with guides, not just books, but people and things to help show you the way.
I think my first real guide to D&D actually predates my D&D exposure.
I have mentioned in the past that my true introduction to what would become my D&D was d'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths this was nearly immediately followed by Tolkien's The Hobbit.
In between my reading of these two books was when I discovered D&D. The line is pretty direct for me from Greek Myths to D&D and the Hobbit. These two sources were my guide to what D&D could be if not what it should be. In fact it is not too much of a stretch to say my D&D then was very much Greek Myths + The Hobbit.
The next guide I picked up were D&D proper.
While Holmes Basic might have been my first set of D&D rules, it was the AD&D Monster Manual that was my first exposure to D&D. But I have detailed these two books and their impact on me many times here.
From here my guides were less about books and more about people. When I was learning to how to play and moving through my first few years of D&D I got to play in a lot of different groups and knew of several more. Here other's experiences and their readings came to influence me.
While I had read many of the books on the infamous Appendix N, they were only a tertiary impact on me and my games. Usually, either through someone else have read them and applying them to their games and what was in the RPG books.
Over the years I have had the chance to play with others who have helped guide me (and vice versa) through many RPGs. Each time I take away something to aid me or push me on.
There were my high school games where I got the chance to play with a lot of different groups. The summer from college that I played in an OD&D campaign. Games at college and striking out all on my own in 2nd Ed to recreate my own worlds. Campaigns with other games like ShadowRun, Vampire, and eventually WitchCraft. Meeting people online and talking games with them discovering that even though we all did things in a different way there are common stories and share experiences. To the message boards, blogs, and social media of today.
Even reading these posts today will help guide me in other directions.
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