I can't really recommend the autodesk maya foundation 2009 book. It's okay and goes through a lot of material, but there's lots of errors and omissions and at the end you may or may not have actually learned everything they were trying to teach. The projects go by fast and it's hard to really understand why certain things are done.

But I guess I have a neutral opinion, has good stuff, not so good stuff. I'm sure there's better books, but it's a decent starter. Haven't seen the other books. I recently got Maya Visual Effects: An Innovator's Guide, and though I haven't had a chance to go through it, it seems excellent, though it's above a beginner level I think.

Sorry can't be more helpful on this list. I only have a few books myself.