I haven't read many books, but I read supersystem by Doyle Brunson (which is a good enough basic book that covers quite alot) and I've also heard that most Sklanksy books are good. I've read a bunch of articles on the internet when I first started (goooooogle), and I've read lots of forum threads on various forums. Once you have a very basic understanding of poker, the forums help more than any book does (imo) .

That being said, bet anywhere from 50% to 100% of the pot, depending on your objective, as a general starter rule heh. Bet more if you're worried, bet less if you want callers.