If you want to start from "first principles", I thought this book [1] was good for getting right to the meat of accounting.

It seems like there's a new edition that came out. [2]

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Statements-Step-Step-Unders...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Statements-Step-Step-Unders...

If you don't want to go through thousand page textbooks on financial accounting, managerial accounting, and corporate finance, I recommend the following two short books to everyone:

1. Financial Statements, Thomas Ittelson - https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Statements-Rev-Thomas-Ittel...

2. Financial Intelligence, Karen Berman - https://www.amazon.com/Financial-Intelligence-Revised-Manage...

I've also found this website useful: https://www.accountingcoach.com/

I'd recommend the following books: Financial Statements Step by Step (http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Statements-Step-Step-Underst...)

Financial Intelligence (http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Intelligence-Revised-Edition...)

Financial Intelligence for Entrepreneurs (http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Intelligence-Entrepreneurs-R...)