"The Beginner's Guide to the Tarot" by Juliet Sharman-Burke was my very first Tarot book, twenty-seven years ago, and I still highly recommend it!
I slightly disagree with the warning against Nancy Garen's "Tarot Made Easy", however. I've been using that book with Tarot students for almost twenty years as well, and while there are some things in it with which I definitely tend to disagree--I favor the use of reversals, too, and find that for me, they very much matter--I find that it can be a great tool for the beginner. Seventy-eight cards is a LOT to take in, at face value. And the concept of trying to memorize meanings for all 78 cards (and twice that, if you're doing reversals) can be pretty scary when one first starts out. I've found that Garen's book presents the Tarot in "bite-sized chunks", and that's how most people receive information best nowadays. We live in a "soundbyte based world", and this book presents information in precisely that manner, which might be particularly appealing to those of the "younger generation" (egads, I'm only 43, but I sound like a little old lady!). I do feel, however, that it needs to be used in combination with other books (like Sharman-Burke's) for maximum learning potential.
Ultimately, the deck itself is your best "beginner book". Find a deck that actually resonates deeply with you--where you feel as though you can "step inside" the images and "explore"--and the meanings WILL make themselves apparent. I've only recently realized this myself, after twenty-seven years of Tarot, but thanks to a class with a very wise teacher (Laurie Cabot) and the gift of the Steampunk Tarot by Caitlin and John Matthews from someone I love dearly, I now have a whole new lease on learning!