If you book is in objective-c then you'll be best writing in objective -c, so you can follow along.
Is it this book:
http://www.apress.com/9781430264392 ?
If so, it states it is for:
Beginning developers who have some understanding of object-oriented programming as well as intermediate iOS developers who want to get up to speed quickly with Sprite Kit.
I'd suggest you work through,
Objective-C Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (2nd Edition) and
iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide (4th Edition) first.
You struggle so much jumping straight into SpriteKit, you really need to understand how Objective-C and the Cocoa Framework works first.
I would avoid Swift atm, as it is still in its infancy and there is much more literature for Objective-C available.