GA,
Are all those books in straight music notation, or do they also have TABs and Chords?
I an work out the music notation from a couple of years of piano I took while in grade school, but it's a tedious process. I can work out the songs from TABs if I have the recording to listen to.
But the best way for me to learn something on guitar is to have BOTH the TABS and the Music Notation. The tabs to find the notes and the Music Notation to get the timing.