I've been a huge fan of Manning books for some time. Now that I've been working with them for a few months, I understand why the quality is so high.

>You're probably right about that. Regardless of which data direction one chooses to go in .NET, once you understand ADO.NET the fear and loathing go away. I can't recommend the Murach book highly enough. It comes in both C# and VB flavors.
>
>http://www.amazon.com/Murachs-ADO-NET-Entity-Framework-Murach/dp/1890774537/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269925352&sr=8-2
>
>http://www.amazon.com/Murachs-ADO-NET-LINQ-Entity-Framework/dp/1890774529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269925352&sr=8-1