"Please give us a simple answer, so that we don't have to think, because if we think, we might find answers that don't fit the way we want the world to be."
~ Terry Pratchett in Nation
If you want to get a book then I recommend O'Reilly's Head First PHP and MySQL.
And supplement that with the PHP manual as that is an excellent resource and the very best.
The book and tutorials around the web will help you gain and understanding in the syntax and structure of PHP and how to implement it, which will then make the PHP manual easier to understand since you'll know the basics.
Bookmarks