I'm writing this post out of my personal experiences when I first tried to learn android development.Android programming is with Java. Therefore programming for android will be easier if you know java well. Eventhough programming language is Java, it runs on a custom Dalvik Virtual Machine than a JVM. Therefore knowing java will help you to headstart on syntax and common java libraries. If you are new to java, I recommend these titles to you as i found them very simple and effective to learn.
1. Head First Java from O'Reilly Media
Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates
2. Sams Teach yourself java in 21 days
Rogers Cadenhead & Laura Lemay
3. Sams Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours (5th Edition)
Rogers Cadenhead
Once you get a base in the java language, then you can dive into the android programming world. Most professionals suggest the Official Android Developers Guide as the most simple way to learn. It includes a pretty simple introduction and many example applications explained. But if you are more comfortable in learning from a book than from developer documentation, then try these titles. This is a list of 5 android programming titles that I found simple and useful
1. Head First Android Development
Jonathan Simon
2. Beginning Android 3
Mark L Murphy
3. Hello Android
Ed Brunette
4. Beginning Android Application Development
Wei-Meng Lee
5. Android Programming Tutorials
Mark Murphy
