[joverholt]

I agree with reading Jeremy Silman. My first chess book was http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Chess-Player-Fred-Reinfeld/dp.... I started beating my dad after reading it! It covers some basic positional ideas (control of the center, pawn structure) and basic tactical ideas (pins, discovered check). With those two things, you can go a long ways.

Once you get a good handle on that, analyzing your own games and reviewing GM games starts to become helpful.