Ask HN: A good intro to distributed systems?

Does anyone know of a good theoretical piece of literature providing an introduction to distributed systems? I am looking to work on a project, leveraging Amazon's free tier to create a small-scale (I know, counter-intuitive) distributed application. I do not have a problem domain for my project or even an idea, really. I am also lacking a strong mathematical background which is why I am struggling to find a good "beginner's" introduction. I am fascinated by the concept of distributed systems and the messaging process between them. I want to create a system that leverages very large data sets and am not too sure where to begin. Any direction would be most appreciated!