This book is what got me off the ground from newbville and on my way to intermediate.

https://leanpub.com/codebright/packages/book/purchases/new

It includes everything about Laravel a beginner needs to know. The flow of process, IoC, controllers, routes, composer and artisan command line tricks, macros, etc... and at the end you build a simple application for keeping track of your video games that you have utilizing all the skills you gained.

After that, I picked up: https://leanpub.com/laravel4cookbook

This book launched me into more advanced concepts and practices of Laravel and ultimately got me a job that uses Laravel every day.

Happy coding!

It kinda depends on your current knowledge of PHP.

For me, a relative newbie, I fould just reading the docs over, and over, and over taught be heaps.

If you haven't found them yet... Laracasts.com have heaps of videos that are insanely useful. It's a subscription service, but worth it if you are keen. Some of the lessons can be a little advanced for newbies, but there is nothing wrong with diving in. That's how I learn anyway.

Good luck and welcome to the family!