The counterparts of these books in the mathematical domain may be self-contained with respect to the subject matter, but you fail to consider the fact that most

The counterparts of these books in the mathematical domain may be self-contained with respect to the subject matter, but you fail to consider the fact that most of them require a high degree of mathematical sophistication and are really targeted at people who have already acquired the required level of intuition. The "self-contained" nature of these books is deceptive - they might start with some innocent looking stuff about counting, integers etc and very soon drill deep into abstract stuff through complex chains of reasoning which a beginner will find extremely dry, bewildering and unfathomable. When you are a total beginner and trying to learn a subject through self-study, you are more likely to appreciate a book in which the author tries to recreate the experience of sitting in a classroom and listening to a professor holding your hand and showing you stuff from various angles.