Learning AppleScript
- AppleScript: Beginner's Tutorial at macosxautomation.com
- Script Debugger 7 -- a full IDE for developing AppleScript.
SD7 now comes with a 20-day free trial, and then will gracefully downgrade to the FREE SD7 Lite (which is still much better than Script Editor).
You can get lots of AppleScript help here in this forum, and in the Script Debugger Forum.
If you really want a book, I like, and have used (mostly before I discovered Ref #1, this book:
Learn AppleScript: The Comprehensive Guide to Scripting and Automation on Mac OS X, 3rd Edition, Kindle Edition by Hamish Sanderson (Author), Hanaan Rosenthal (Author)