OK I am going to throw caution to the wind here and say "have you opened the book"..
Even when buying books online, most services allow you to browse the book.
I would only ever purchase a book after seeing if its the kind of thing I am looking for.
Never forget, programmers need to engage their own brain too. Flick through them both and see which one will help you more.
If visual is too focused on WinForms, and you want to get more into the language, and the other is better, go for that.
Off my head, I would say "Visual.." because I like to look at n i k e s h o e s
Rob
http://cantgrokwontgrok.blogspot.com