Thank you all, it's challenging to train yourself for sure. The Mike Holt book I have is pretty good but it leaves some details out. It's the general journeyman prep guide.
wawireguy,
I can associate with the 'details' comment when it comes time to write about specialized areas in wire and cable installation. Illustrating details is an art in talking on paper as compared to writing about the same subject.
The artists that do the drawings need to be coached or well informed to create accurate pictures, but writers are even more challenged to describe a method along with the actual equipment with 'blind text'. Context can distract interpretation in the reader's mind. A perfect example of that remark would be like reading the NEC NFPA 70. Even the handbook is not perfect...so rationalization of finding an electrical text book by any writer is like discovering the Holy Grail. It takes more than one book on every subject.
I grade every electrical book I read to compare how other writers cope with describing electrical instruction, application methods and code correctness. Perfection takes time and a lot of experience. Most books are written and illustrated for the author by professionals that are not electrically schooled. The publishers dictate the physical aspect of overhead costs along with profits and deadlines.
I admire anyone who has a book published because I know the inside mechanics and sacrifice the author must go through in getting the subject matter in an understandable language in correct form. That is why I personally write and illustrate my self-published books and still see flaws in contextual description.
So Mike's books are a step ahead of most educational texts in many ways due to his knowledge and experience in the electrical field. Take it from me, trying to get the CMP's to accept different ways of explaining code is not easy. rbj