Who Loves To Read !?

I do like to read. I study my college textbooks for hours, drinking coffee and smoothies and making notes from all the acquired knowledge. But I don't know anything about cars, and I'm looking for my first car. I want to know enough about car design that I can diagnose problems and do basic maintenance. If it's a book to be read cover-to-cover, ~200 pages sounds good. But maybe some longer books break it into separate chapters such that I could focus on the chapters that pertain to whatever car I get.

Someone told me to just read the owner's manual, but I hate reading owner's manuals because they don't give a broader picture. That's like learning about human anatomy without understanding cell biology or vertebrate evolution, or learning about chemical nomenclature without understanding polarity or atomic structure.
I would be intrigued by anything that gives a history and relates the evolution of cars to advancing technology.

:jerking:

Try howstuffworks.com. There are (or were) many great articles with pictures and animations that explain how the basic parts of a car work. AA1car.com has some decent articles to help with basic diagnostics.

I suggest buying (or finding a torrent) for the factory service manual for whatever car you end up with. This, along with a forum dedicated to your particular model and a basic understanding of how things work, should be all you need to perform basic maintenance and minor repairs.

I completely agree with all listed above. I'll add that you could also pick up a Haynes or Chilton manual for your car. They are often not as good as the factory service manual for your specific vehicle, but should be plenty good for the types of repairs a beginner would be tackling. Also, they spend some number of paragraphs explaining the system from a more generic level that would apply to just about any car on the road.

-Rod