Blender is confusing, so I wish you luck with that. But they have an official set of tutorials you should check out, you can find info about them on blender's website and wiki. Books are specific to the software, so a book wouldn't do you any good unless it was specifically for blender, and one which wasn't too many versions old. Honestly books are not the way to learn computer-relates subjects any more; no one wants to print or sell them because they go out of date so fast. Youtube is the main place to find instructional videos other than the official blender ones.

Added to all this and much more, YouTube has thousands of tutorials, many step by step.

Hi there!

One thing I would suggest is to start simple. Don't think about creating a high-poly, cinematic-quality character model right out of the gate. I've seen folks get frustrated and give up because the idea they have in their head doesn't just spill out on to the screen with a couple of clicks of the mouse. It takes practice; lots of practice.

Instead, start with something simple like a crate. You can start that with a cube, unwrap it, create the texture, and see how it lays out on your model. From there, add detail to your crate. Add individual boards, then go back to unwrapping it and see what you can do with it. By adding to your base model, you won't create a game ready asset, but you'll learn how to create more detail in a model using the geometry you're given

As you learn more and more about basic geometry in the software, you can start thinking of larger, more complex objects. Take a car for instance. You have the body, frame, engine, drive line, interior, suspenssion, wheels, tires, lights, fuel tank, etc. If you create all of the parts needed to make a recognizable car, you'll notice that they all can be made by starting with simple objects, sub-dividing, moving vertex and boom! you've got yourself a shock! Everying is made up of basic shapes when you really look at them.

I'd say getting acquainted with the software is a good thing, but whats more important is learning how to break objects down into their base shapes. It'll help make the process easier, in my opinion, for a beginner.

Eventually, you'll move on to patch modelling, which will give you more dynamic and organic shapes, but it isn't for everyone. I know a guy that is a decent enough artist, but takes him months and months just to make a basic character model and it usually comes out way too high of poly, looking pretty "off" or "broken" and bad geometry all over the place.

Hope that gave you something to work with. Sorry I don't really know of any good books for 3D modelling; like many have suggested here, I learned from getting my hands dirty and watching a couple tutorials online.

Good luck and keep your head up!