Well, I've gone from mastering Paint, around 20 hours of GIMP, and now I'm attempting Blender. I've had a few CAD classes and have some experience in 3D, but it wasn't much like Blender. These tutorials are a bit confusing ( I got half way through one when it explained how to select an object...). Are there any good books or tutorials which explain the basics clearly? I really want to learn Blender but haven't been making much progress.

Try these if you haven't already: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blender_3D:_Noob_to_Pro

I reccomend particularly the tutorials "Beginning Tips" and "Modeling a Simple Person". This'll teach you the bare minimum of extruding, subsurfing and creasing; you'd be surprised what you can do with just those buttons.

Or try video tutorials:
http://blenderunderground.com/video-tutorials/
Blender e-shop

My best advice is to log onto the IRC channel #blender on irc.freenode.net. It's very friendly and an excellent help in learning to use a confusing program.

Try the "Essential Blender" book.

Blender has put this up for free:

2.3 Guide

I bought the book copy but this is the same, even has the images. It was pretty good. I read it like 4 years ago.

check blenderartists.org or blendernation.com for tutorials as well. Like any tool, it does take a while to get used to, but Blender is all in the shortcut keys.

When I got over the hump, I did it by watching a ton of videos online. Try Vimeo.com, and just watch people work with it. Then try the NOOB TO PRO book linked above.

Blender is REALLY EASY to use once you know how.