The great thing about statistics is that you get to play in everyone's back yard -- John Tukey (famous statistician)
There are good ways to learn statistics, and not so effective ways to do it. Like all else math, having a good instructor or good books to self-learn from makes all the difference. And having a good grasp of probability theory and the attendant mathematics is a good help too.
But why the sudden interest in statistics? With increasing importance of data science and machine learning, a lot of the algorithms require a solid understanding of foundational mathematics. Statistics forms a good base from which to grow at least some of the knowledge base. There is of course no denying you need more math than just stats, however.
Some books I think are outstanding to learn statistics effectively are:
These books are both extremely readable and chockful of examples. The second book is advertised as "Your easiest reference to the nastiest statistics" and it lives up to the hype. Things have never been clearer.
Some people tend to look down their noses at the Dummies series of books, but I find them surprisingly readable and very informative. They are actually not dumb at all (in my opinion anyway).
In addition, there are some excellent courses on Coursera to learn statistics with little pain. Good luck!
Do share if you know of other books or resources you found particularly helpful.
