Help with Understanding Hero's Handbook please

Ok I know there are a lot of threads about Handbooks and to be honest thats what has gotten me confused so please be kind and dont flame because yes I did a search for handbook threads before posting

Ok I am almost done with EOTN for the first time in NM. I have 13 of 16 pages complete. Once I complete the book I know I can turn it in for like 20k points.

From what I have read the best way to raise in rep rank is to turn in normal mode book at r7 and that will take up to or close to r9 in whichever rep.

So my question is do I need to hold onto my book until then? Or I turn the book in and I can get new NM books to redo?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Yes, you can get as many books as you want, even while you still have the old one (just put it in storage while asking for a new one). It doesn't really matter when you claim the reward except that raising your rank will give some immediate benefits like armor, weapons and consumables crafting, and more efficient PvE skills.

Remember to give the book to the faction whose reputation you want to raise. Dwarf and Norn are in Gunnar's Hold, Vanguard in EotN and Asura in Rata Sum.

AFAIK it does matter, in one way, when you turn in your book. Once you get to rank8 in a title, you can't turn in NM books (Hero or Dungeon) for that title any more.
So, what the OP is referring to is waiting until you have nearly rank8, so that , when you turn in your book it will push you as far as possible past rank8.

You can look on Wiki to see how many points you get for turning in a book with certain numbers of pages. It's easy enough then to calculate when thebest time is to turn in your books.

You can get as many NM and HM books as you want. Keep in mind though, that you can only fill in one book of one type, at a time. If you have, say, 2 NM Hero's Handbooks in your inventory at a time, only the "first" one will get the pages filled in.

cool, that makes sense now. So I can turn in this book when I am done, get the 20k and rinse and repeat with normal mode books until I hit r8 so i will want to turn in a full book right before r8 to maximize efficiency.

I am still not sure which is the best rep to raise. I grinded up to level 5 of norn so I could get my norn armor for my Para. I have heard that Vanguard is the hardest to get so I guess thats the one to use the books on the most.

Right go for the one you want the quick rank 5 first for armor. And Farming the books is the fastest way to raise your reputation. O and I wouldn't use any on the Dwarven. Because every dungeon you do gets you Dwarven Rep points and you will easily get rank 9 from just doing the Normal and Hardmode dungeons with the Dwarven rep point blessing. I know because I am sitting at 114k Dwarven Rep. I have done all dungeons in Normal mode and only 4 more to do in hard. All my other Reps are maxed. I'll max out my Dwarven when I turn in my Harmode Dungeon book.

which rep skills are more beneficial overall Vanguard or Asura?

I dont think one can really answer that question. It really depends on what PvE skills you like the most. You do get title benefit for being in the region but it's minimal until you get to high tier. I use 2 Norn and 1 Vanguard pVe only skill, so I maxed them first. In the end the primary one is which armor you want. You got that. I would suggest looking at the PvE only skills from each race and see which one you like the most and put points in there first. Really hard to tell, But some favorite skills are Asuran: Pain Inverter. Norn has "Finish Him!" and "You move like a Dwarf!" + the loved/hated Ursan Blessing. I like Ebon Assasin Support in the Vanguard line. But I'm a caster primary there are alot of skills that would be better for melee professions that I don't use much. Which they would like better.

yeah the 2 skills that I think I have the most interest in is ebon vanguard of courage and pain inverter. Just not sure if either or both synergize well with a paragon

Well Pain Inventor is a must have for killing bosses and mobs in HM. The Great Destroyer for example can be killed in under 2 mins if you use PI on him for example.

I got PI and love that skill.

I am conflicted on the best way to go. I have heard a lot of people say jump straight into doing HM books and do like 3-5 quests repeatedly turn in the HM book and repeat. On the other hand some people say to just do normal books until R7 turn in then turn in last nm book right before 8 get almost to 9 then do HM books to finish.

Which way is better? easier? faster? all of the above LOL