This was very clear reading, without getting too bogged down in the math equations.any other reading suggestions entering into this topic?
PID control is probably what you'll see in an introductory undergraduate engineering control theory course (which I haven't taken). I think you'd typically study the dynamics using numerical simulation and Laplace transforms. You might think about making a practical project (I made a PID reflow oven controller).
After that you're off to the races with State Space methods (e.g. Chen's "Linear System Theory and Design".) and you can think about problems like stabilizing a quadrocopter based on inertial measurements.
He also has a free "The Fundamentals of Control Theory" book (I haven't read it, so unfortunately I can't provide an opinion on it).