R has a steep learning curve and, if taken in all at once, it can be overwhelming. But we can tame this curve by putting aside visualizations and analysis, and focusing on working with data.
This book is all about data manipulation: importing, creating, modifying, filtering, summarizing and reshaping data sets. You will also go deep on the building blocks of R: vectors and functions.
The language is simplified and technical lingo is kept to a minimum. You will see analogies to Excel where applicable, to ease your understanding of concepts.
Supplemental articles and videos can be found at rforexcelusers.com