Trying to figure it out

I've been taking all of my pictures in auto mode. I've had good luck so far, but would really like to use the other marvelous features that my camera has.
I am not a stupid person... really. Maybe I need a digital SLR book for the truly clueless?
I found a section in one of the books that tells you what settings to put your camera on for certain conditions - action, landscape etc. What I CAN'T find is a section on HOW to put your camera in these settings and HOW to navigate back and forth between them..
I got a tad bit frustrated when I decided to just TRY a few things that one book suggested, and when I took the picture, there was nothing there???
AAUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Sigh.
Going to look for a class to take now... you know, with a person who can explain the whole process to me. Hopefully the instructor will give good homework assignments with minimal and specific directions for someone who is technical-details-challenged like me.

Thanks for listening.
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bluejay
nose