There is a lot of great information availability in the WhitePapers on the MS SQL Server site. As for books, one of my favorites is Inside SQL Server 7.0 by Delaney but it's very advanced. There's a book by Waymire that I think is geared towards the newbie. I've not read it but I'm familiar with the author.

Oh, also check out SQL Server magazine. It's a must if you're getting into SQL Server.

-Mike