IMHO what you really want out of +4 or greater ECL race is partly some stat boosts but mainly DR and/or SR. The SR becomes more important at higher levels when enemies start bashing through your DR, but the DR helps more at lower levels.
Some traps to avoid:
High ECL and casters: Obviously if you can only level to 22, you're going to be pretty handicapped in terms of number of spells and multiclassing flexibility. But also, you gain immunity to dispelling (except by Mord's) at 25, which is huge for classes that rely on a lot of buffs.
Less than +5 natural armor: Since racial natural armor doesn't stack with other sources of natural armor, you shouldn't consider anything less than 5 as extremely beneficial because you'll want a +5 natural armor amulet anyway. Even +5 just means you get to save a bit of coin.
No manual dexterity: Really don't recommend these races for a starting player. Some can do alright as monks if they have a low enough ECL though (e.g. myconids).
(Possibly) Very high stat boosts: These look really attractive but often don't help out as much as you'd think.
As far as monster races go, I think lycanthropes are great. Lots of RP opportunity there. I also really want to see someone roll a wererat. Werewolves are so overdone.
Also, as far as your initial post goes, be wary of choosing an outsider race. You're limited to 1 step away in alignment, and other characters know it. Also it can be kind of difficult to roleplay them well.
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