First of all, quit bitching about prices in Canada. Nobody cares. Buy your books in the states. The only thing I specifically purchase in Canada is Coffee Crisp becaue we don't have that here.
In reality, almost all books are a waste of money. What it really comes down to is :what does my opponent have, what does he think I have, can I bluff him off this pot or is he going to make me show him a hand, and, if so, do I have a hand with showdown value. For example, you're at a table of weakies, three people limp in and you're on the button, you raise with 9-2o and everybody folds. Why, because they're weak and you took advantage of that. I've yet to see a book that tells you to raise with 9-2o, yet there are times when you can do it with impunity.
You have AA UTG and raise. CO thinks about it and calls. Flop comes, you bet pot, he calls quickly. Hmmm, you think, no straight of flush draws here. You bet turn, he quickly raises all-in, you fold cause you know he flopped a set. How do you know, because you have experience. You've observed him and you know that's how he plays flopped sets. No book can teach you that, you know that from playing the game and learning your opponents. Most of what I know about this game I learned through playing, not from books. However, there are some books that I like to go back to from time to time to see if there is something that I missed or a concept that I may understand better now. SSII is one such book. Why SSII, becaue I wore out my copy of SSI. I wouldn't recommend somebody who has neither purchase both, I'd recommend they buy the second one because the games are current. SSI has draw and an outdated limit section.
Canada...our neighbor to the north.