Getting back to the original post, I read the books in the following order: Andy's (mainly because I first learned from him here at AT, but also because it was the first one available to me); then Rana's because of the buzz around it; then Caitlin's, which came out a bit later. In order of continued usefulness, judged by how often I refer back to them, I would rank Andy's first, then Caitlin's (I like the playing-card material) and finally Rana's. To be honest, though, I refer to my compiled blog-material binder more often than any of them, since I personalized it to my interests. Andy, at least in the first edition, admitted that he used a stripped-down approach so as not to overwhelm the novice, while Rana and Caitlin are much broader and more inclusive. None of them go overboard with tossing out the tradition and jumping on the "intuitive reading" bandwagon. I would add that a more recent book that has struck the best balance between the traditional and the innovative styles is Rachel Pollack's companion book to the Burning Serpent Oracle (regardless of what you might think of the non-traditional slant of the deck).
