Im looking to buy a book on Houdini. I know that the current version 10 is pretty new, and also the new version coming 11. I was looking at the sidefx “Learning Materials” section and I came across these:

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=834&Itemid=66 [sidefx.com]

and

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448&Itemid=66 [sidefx.com]

I know both books offer tips and tricks. But Im curious if they are worth getting if they are outdated compared to the newer versions of Houdini.
If anyone can suggest worthy physical reading material, thats up to date id appreciate it.

The Magic of Houdini is very good, and still in vogue. Mostly the differences are aesthetic, and figuring them out will probably even bring you a little closer to the interface / workflow.

“Physical” and “Up-to-date” don't get along very well, unfortunately ;-)

I also miss the reading kind of tutorials for Houdini - it's mostly vids nowdays, and vids are - for me - maybe good for tutoring, but useless as a reference. However, the help system got quite nice recently, and with most sections providing really comprehensive contents, you can find plenty of good reading out there.

If you can give up the “Physical” part, you can still find some good reading in PDFs, e.g. Andrew Lowell's book.

Cheers,
Greg