What is the difference between these Calculus topics?

While not exactly a book, Paul's online notes provide material from algebra/pre-calc all the way up to Calculus III and differential equations.

You will also notice that under the "contents" tab, there are links to

  1. Notes

  2. Practice Problems

  3. Assignment problems


Some of the books you've mentioned I've heard of, and from what I can see, some of them are probably bad places to start, depending on your level of skill. Clearly if the first chapter is too much, you should put the book down or wait until another day or find another book.

You will also find plenty books will probably assume you have background knowledge. Multi-variable Calculus, for example, requires you to understand single-variable Calculus.

AFAIK, the general starter for how you should tackle your first Calculus course should be something like

  1. Limits

  2. Derivatives

  3. Integrals

And applications should be sprinkled in between.

Also don't forget that if you think your getting it but maybe one particular problem is stumpting you, MSE is happy to try and help.