Although I haven't really updated as much as I'd like to, I have my own photography guides blog:
Photography for Newbies
I'm sure there's many more users who have their own guides.
As for books, there's not one single book I'm aware of that stands out from all the others, have you only just started taking up photography?
There are some books written specifically for certain camera models, worth looking to see if the camera you own has a book or two for it.
There's always the "for Dummies" brand, but unless you really have only just picked up a camera, some of the stuff that's in there will seem like common sense.