I agree with Bibs.  Two other "thinking about chess" books with more of a personal feel than Watson's are Improve Your Chess Now by Jonathan Tisdall and The Road to Chess Improvement by Alex Yermolinsky.  I loved reading both of those books, and learned a lot along the way.

cathexis wrote on 09/25/20 at 15:20:48:

They're both great, and are quite similar in content and style, to the extent that I forget what material is in which. You won't go wrong with either.

No not really. But the internet is making people crazy. I searched on abebooks for "chess openings" in the last seven days. Then for the highest priced item I searched for that seller's "chess openings". Just one example, they list a Claude Bloodgood book for $42.60 that is available right now from USCF for $2.00. The used bookstore I frequented pre-pandemic has also been corrupted lately by the internet. But of course there are other sellers who are quite reasonable with their prices.

For the beach, I recommend the app book directly from Gambit.http://gambitbooks.com/books/Chess_for_Zebras.html Better than a kindle book since you can move the pieces in the app while you are reading. Near the water, I protect the device with a zip-lock bag.

The price sounds high until you realize how hard it is to teach Zebras how to play chess.  In all serious though, that price is rather ridiculous. Of course the kindle price is very reasonable and you can get it from Amazon.co.UK for $37.96.