Not sure if this will be helpful or not but I recently wrote an post that outlines some of my experiences in my first year of getting started in brewing and maybe some helpful hints on books etc. Should be good for beginners in brewing.
I started in Nov. of 2011 and have went all in since...
Update: I no longer have the (4) Corney Kegs I had before. No need to contact me. It seems these do have some value as I was contacted by several people wanting them.
I can save you all a ton of money. I've got (4) four Corney kegs that have already been converted to Sanke professionally. A friend works at a distributor and they didn't want them any more. They were fosters kegs. I was told they were Corny kegs so I bought them sight unseen. Turns out...