You should be okay jumping into technical stuff: I was. My first material to PR was a whole bunch of Java books and tutorials and I'm learning quite fast. I'm surprised! Just stick to it and let go of your previous learning and reading methods, and instead, try to find one that works for you.
The main book I'm reading has review questions and programming assignments at the end of each chapter, so I focus on answering those when activating (I actually activate while trying to answer them). I also focus on each chapter at a time.
The programming questions in particular are great because I start coding and as I try to solve the problem the coding itself flows as I look back and forth through the books trying to come up with a solution. I'm delighted 
Good luck!
