I kind of liked Phil Hellmuths book. Its been awhile and Ive forgotten the exact title but his reccommendations for starting hands for new players are pretty good, imo. Its "Play like a Pro" or close to that. I gave my copy to a friend.
I'm still a poker noob, but I got alot out of Harrington's books on tournament play, and a book called Middle Limit Holdem by Ciaffone (sp?). The Sklansky books are also required but I think I understood the concepts only after playing alot more, and coming back to re-read them.
I've enjoyed Caro's Book of Tells and The Poker Face of Wall Street by Aaron Brown. I haven't, however, even dented the literature for newbees that's out there. I also have this simulator software that's real good. I forget who it is by. In the software dept., I would not recommend Stacked. It takes up a gawdawful amount of memory and is cheesy and boring after an hour.
It depends on whether you are going for limit or no-limit... for no-limit I recommend No Limit Hold Em: Theory & Practice by Sklansky and Miller...
The Theory of Poker by Sklansky is a must read, IMO. A lot of pros say the same. I browse through it quite a bit, even though I first read it a few years back. Harrington's books on Tournament play are the best I have read. btw... has anyone read Volume III?