Reddit reviews Android Apps for Absolute Beginners

I just started with android programming (well programming in general) in Oct 2011. I started out by following a book called Android Apps for Absolute Beginners which helped me get started with setting up eclipse and what not but I quickly found out that I needed to learn some java basics before I was going to get anywhere with it so I found this web site http://www.javavideotutes.com/lessons which helped me out a lot. After watching a few videos I made my first app Lottery Numbers which is some how my most profitable app still :-/ but anyway after that I decided to dive into working with databases and what not and have found stackoverflow.com to be very useful. Pretty much any question you could think of has been asked on that site. I'm no android expert but I've learned a lot by just keeping with it and learning as much as I can from the internet.

I know how you feel. Games seem like a great place to start when learning to program, but they really aren't. Games are deceptively complex. There is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes that needs to work well for a game to provide the player with a good experience.

That said I understand the motivation to make a game vs a note taking app. My suggestions are to first get an introductory android programming book. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Android-Absolute-Beginners-Wallace-Jackson/dp/1430234466/ref=pd_sim_b_1
It should get you up and running programming and help you understand the way that android works.

Then after you've worked your way through that book get this book: http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Android-Games-Mario-Zechner/dp/1430230428/ref=pd_sim_b_2 which is written by the guy behind LibGDX which is referenced in the comment by Crossseyejack.