Welcome to the hobby!
I can't say enough great things about my good friend Bob Fenner and his essential text--
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. No marine aquarist should be without it. Make sure you get the new edition--there are some worthwhile changes. Scott's books are very good, as is just about anything published by Microcosm (James Lawrence is in charge over there, and he has done a VERY good job bringing some of the best and most reliable information to readers). I also really like The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium by Svein Fossa and Alf Jacob Nilsen. There is some great technical information in it that you won't find in other hobbyist books. Also check out Nilsen's Reef Secrets. Finally, I just reviewed (actually it was probably half a year ago now...lol) The Marine Fish Health and Feeding Handbook (Goemans and Ichinotsubo), which is IMO very, very good (although I do disagree with some of what they say).
In short, take nothing for Gospel and keep an open mind. This is a great hobby, and there are many excellent books to help the beginner get his feet (err) wet.
Good luck!
Ret
www.SaltwaterSense.com
p.s. By the way, my book will be coming out VERY soon, and it has a CD-ROM with beta (and pictures!) on over 1000 animals! Whoa! lol....do check it out as well if you like...