Best Software design prof I had in my college days always said, "Start with Alice in Wonderland". It is to remind us all that you can't get overwhelmed with what one particular author has to say on anything; and a little pleasure reading does the mind good to unwind when stuck on a particular project.

With that being said, I would like to start the suggestions with: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming Author Timothy Budd

I have used XBMC for years as well, I love the fact that it can fetch a episode description from the internet most of the time. There are a few descriptions missing from where ever it gets the info for Star Trek DS9.