Tony,
Welcome to this wonderful bunch of helpful, knowledgeable, sometimes nutty people. You will love it here.
My first book choice:
Woodturning A Foundation Course. It is by Keith Rowley.
It is truly "A Foundation Course." It takes you from zero to being a decent turner.
It is by "Guild of Master Craftsman Publications." It is also nice in that it is not expensive. I have the paper back book. The book is well made so that you can keep going through it without wearing it out.
It explains the turning type of turning tools and sharpening the tools. He discusses the wood itself in relation to turning. His six "Laws of Woodturning" will keep you out of trouble (just the part about how the metal meets the wood is worth the price of the book) because it will keep you out of serious trouble. The foregoing is only the beginning of the book. I highly recommend purchasing it!!!
When you are ready for a second book; Richard Raffin's "Complete Guide to Turning" is a good book. He does not start with the really foundation stuff, that is why I said the second book.
Actually, my second book would NOT be a book; it would be a DVD by Raffin. "Wood Turning" is its name. On this DVD he has an entire "Chapter" on how to hold the turning tools and how to stand. He shows this with a fair amount of detail. It is excellent. However, I would do the Foundation book first. You will get a lot more bang for your buck. Some of the DVD Chapters are: Centerwork Stance and Movement, Centerwork Gouge Exercises, Centerwork Skew Exercises, Facework Stance and Movement, Facework Exercises, etc.
Watching how he holds a tool and how he moves shows up tremendously better on a DVD than pics in a book.
There are 14 "Chapters."
In my opinion:
Popular Mechanics "Lathe Fundamentals---The Complete Guide" is "so-so." I could have easily lived without it.
"Ellsworth on Turning" is definitely not what you want now. It is a good book, but not 'till you have some skill. It is another book I could have lived without---even though it is a good book.
Richard Raffin's book, "Turning Wood" is a good companion to the DVD of the same name. It goes well with the DVD. However, if I was only going to purchase one, I would get the DVD.
Change of Subject:
The Harbor Freight Turning Tool Set ($85 when I purchased it) has High Speed Steel. The tools stay sharp for quite a while. They give you inexpensive tools to learn your sharpening on. They work quite well. I have modified a couple of them to be a different tool (again, inexpensive learning). Yes, I have some $100 and $150 (each) lathe tools and I love them. However, in the beginning I would not have done any better with them than the HF. AND I would not have had the nerve to try different sharpening methods nor would I have felt free to turn one kind of a tool into another with a grinder because of the price. The HF set will probably be better than you will be for a year or two; depending on how much turning you will do.
I still use a HF tool sometimes; especially the modified tools. I would not feel tremendously handicapped if all of my tools were HF.
I have a Jet Slow Speed Wet Sharpening system. I have spoken with close to a dozen people who prefer it to the much more expensive Tormek System. I have the Jet and I am glad that I have it. However, if I knew then, what I know now, I would not purchase a Jet or a Tormek. I made a very simple Wolverine system. With that and a 1725 RPM grinder with some good stones (wheels) you can do a heck of a good woodturning tool sharpening.
You know, I have blabbered here for so long that the Tea I was making is like the Tea that my sister made after she came back from England---It is so strong that it removes tooth enamel. Also the tea is cold so I better shut up and go reheat it.
Any questions PM me.
Enjoy,
JimB