The syntax of a language is fairly easy to grasp, and I think the more important thing is to learn how people use the language, what are the pitfalls you're likely to encounter, and how to code around them. Essentially a "best practices" guide.
It's great that C++ has these books. With some other languages its not obvious what the "best practices" books are or there don't seem to be any.
For coding in C#, Framework Design Guidelines[1] is an excellent book. I'd argue that with a little adjustment for conventions, it applies to Java too - and IMHO Java is in more need of the advice, as test-oriented code can lead to unwieldy, overcomplex APIs, a tendency that needs tempering.
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Framework-Design-Guidelines-Convention...
Maybe some languages would only need a pamphlet.
I think that any language that reaches the enterprise mainstream, suffers from the "creativity" of enterprise architects.