I tended to shy away from the Idiots books because, well, they never occurred to me to be a decent reference book. Has anyone read those books or agree that would be a good starting point for her?
While I haven't read the two that the store owner recommended, I just finished the Shamanism one. I found it very informative, and the information contained in it to be on par with the other books I've read on Shamanism.
I bought my daughter the one about meditation a while back. I haven't read it myself yet (she took it off to college with her), but someone I trust told me it gave good basic information.
Not sure how much that helps, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one on a subject I was interested in.