Well first off, Congrats on taking up the guitar. For books, try Fretboard Logic. The DVD by Fender called getting started on acoustic guitar is also a good place to begin. Also, this site is filled with lessons and a bunch of cool folks that will be able to answer just about any question you can come up with. As for which guitar, I would go with a steel string acoustic. Yamaha makes some nice guitars that won't break the bank.