What is the best book for a beginner at canning?

Thank you each an everyone for taking the time to help me. As soon as the books
arrive and I have had a chance to peruse them I will get started. Excited about trying
my hand at this art...

I found that the preserve recipes in the Ball book used an incredible amount of sugar and felt really outdated. "Canning for a New Generation," while perhaps not as comprehensive, caters more to today's easier access to higher quality ingredients.

We do a lot of canning and pickling at the Food52 office, and have picked a few of our favorite books to carry at Provisions, too. I think one of the best to get started with is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Someone else mentioned this one too -- so I second it!

https://food52.com/provisions/products/1283-ball-complete-book-of-home-preserving

I think Food in Jars is a great beginner book. It doesn't have as many recipes as something like the Ball books, but all the recipes are great and Marisa is fantastic at explaining (and reassuring!). I own a lot, many of which I really love, but it was Marisa's blog that I always went to in the "early days"--and still go to now!

Food in Jars

I have relied on Putting Food By for 10 years now. It isn't big on pictures, but the instructions are precise and clear, both necessary qualities for the nervous beginner. There is also a wry sense of humor to break the tension caused by fear of poisoning your family. ;)

I discovered this website last fall http://pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm and have found it to be a great resource, with so many answers to the questions I seem to have every year when I'm up to my elbows in fruit and juggling hot jars.

The Ball Blue Book (put out by the company that makes jars and rings). It's been around a long time, but is frequently updated. Very good for beginners. Think it might be called the Ball Book of Home Preserving now. I also like the Zedrich books: The Joy of Pickling and The Joy of Jams, Jellies . . . . An oldie (but updated) is Putting Food By.

Believe it or not, The Joy of Cooking has an excellent table of processing times for practically anything you may want to preserve.

I love The Joy of Pickling, The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook, and Food in Jars. All have clear, simple instructions for beginners.