Problem:

I am currently reading "The Chemistry of Life" by Rose. It's a great book (to me as a lay reader at least) and an interesting topic so I am interested in pursuing some of the further reading he suggests.

The first book he mentions in the bibliography is Alberts' "Molecular Biology of the Cell". Looking at the description and the reviews it seems that this is a pretty advanced bio-sciences graduate level text, and I am very much not that. I see that Alberts has also written "Essential Cell Biology" which looks more accessible. Before I buy this I wondered if anyone can explain the difference, which would be a better read for an enthusiastic amateur?

If it helps at all I am a science grad and I typically read authors such as Dawkins and Matt Ridley, but I'm looking for something a little bit more rigorous to expand my knowledge in cell biology. Please explain your answer.