The problem with instructional books is a) they tend to skip steps which isn't ideal for a complete beginner, and b) they get outdated rather quickly. Get yourself a subscription to Digital Tutors... a couple of their Maya courses (namely Intro to Maya, and Intro to Modeling in Maya) and you'll be all set and well equipped…
Then you need to start downloading Models and follow their topology. Basically, and follow the rendering skills you've learned from Maya tutorial. You can find such modeling tutorials on: http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Maya/Modeling/1 http://www.3d-tutorial.com/tutorials.php?cat=17…