The publishers of Make: magazine have just come out with a book on the basics of electronics. You can download a sample of the book that include the table of contents, the index, and Chapter 1.
From what I could see I like it. Right off the bat, they have you build a little LED circuit consisting of a battery, potentiometer, and LED. With just those three components, they’re able to demonstrate the concepts of voltage, resistance and current, as well as teach you how to use a multimeter.
A plug for one of the best electronics books:
The Art of Electronics, by Horowitz and Hill. Highly recommended, by me, and pretty much anybody else who owns the book. This book is a soup-to-nuts electronics lesson in an accessible fashion.
Another great book for learning electronics is The ARRL Handbook.
Jeff