re: Beginner Guitar Question

Any basic chord book would do. Keep it simple (I wonder if that book isn't going to get unnecessarily complicated for a beginner). Start with the easy, major chords first (G, A, E, C, D, E minor, A minor, etc.) and start varying their combination for different arrangements. Use power chords until you've grasped more challenging chords (like B, F, and so on).

Also, consider buying a capo. Just by applying it on different frets, It will let you play the same chords you've learned but give you different chords/sounds.

Tab just shows you your fingering/chords on the various strings. There's not much learning curve to reading them. It's basically like looking at a book of chords anyway--only, the chords/fingering that go with a particular song.