@spectrumgomas I haven't read the final version, but MEAP was all over the place. It uses a new domain in every chapter, which I found distracting.
I haven't read the second edition of The Book either, but the first one was good. If you wrote any C, you'll find their explanations of lower-level stuff like the stack a bit funny :) They're very careful not to drown you in new stuff.
If you're just inching to get going, try Rust by Example. If you're more theory-minded, look at https://www.snoyman.com/blog/2018/10/introducing-rust-crash-course/ That last one has exercises!