The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 by Scott Kelby
I recently got Scott Kelby's update to his best-selling book The Digital Photography Book (this one is Volume 2) and I've got to tell you that it's the best $19.99 (or $14.99 if you're a NAPP member) that you can spend to get:
1. A good resource of recommended equipment to buy at three price levels (budget, moderate, and money is no object).
2. A good resource of general photography information written in a down to earth, fun and witty style.
It usually takes me forever to read a book. If you could see the last book I read, you'd see that about every three pages is dog-earred where I stopped reading. With Scott's latest The Digital Photography Book, I blasted through the entire book, cover to cover (okay, I didn't read the index, but everything else) in one sitting on my way from Portland to San Francisco for Macworld. I even read it again in more detail on the way home focusing on the parts that were of particular interest to me.
If you enjoy any of Scott's other books, you'll like this one. If you're not sure, head over to Borders or Barnes and Nobel and I'm sure you could leaf through it and know in short order if you'll like it or not.