I read that book early on after reading some Jon Kabat Zinn books. Even though those weren't religious they were to sugary and "new agey" for my tastes. Mindfulness in Plain English was the one that really jump started things and I appreciated the direct language of the book. It definitely is worth finishing the whole thing. I have had the sequel for a while but haven't read it yet.
I relate totally. This app was so simple and had the bells so I paid for the upgrade to help the developer and I still use the same app. It is only available on android, though. The free version does anything you need: timer, log, and bells.