From TheRobotGroupWiki

Books

Some of the members of The Robot Group have recommended these books, please add more to this list:

Designing Embedded Hardware - O'Reilly

A general knowledge in embedded systems is important for everyone (nice begineer book)

The Art of Electronics

a really good bible of electronics (non-calculas based, a classic)

Physical computing , Thomson press, by O'sullivan and Igoe

Mechatronics sourcebook, Thomson press, by braga

good robotics book

Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels

I like the Junkbots book as a good starting point. Fairly simple circuits and decent behavior

"Mobile Robots" by Jones & Flynn.

A book out of MIT from about 15 years ago. It has reasonably complete descriptions of two projects, plus discussions about various topics like servo control, cabling, sensors, etc. Plus, maybe most valuable, an extensive reference section on resources (vendors, etc). Pretty sure most of the resources are still valid. p.s. it looks like one of the authors greatly prefers the 1st edition...

Robot Builder's Bonanza, Third Edition by Gordon McComb (Author), Myke Predko (Author)

I like the way he has a chapter on all the major components and gives you the distilled info that you need to know. No fluff here. Just practical hands on knowledge. Batteries, motor control, wheels, plastics, metal, wood, etc. distilled down as related to robotics.

Applied Robotics by Edwin Wise

Edwin is a past President of the Robot Group and has written several other good books on amateur robotics. I would recommend any of them without hesitation. I like this one the best due to its focus on Atmel microcontrollers and his interesting Fuzzy Logic Language called "FUZBOL".

Animatronics: Guide to Holiday Displays (Paperback) by Edwin Wise (Author)

focuses on animatronic props. It is a pretty good intro to basic mechanical linkages and displays . It has a heavy bent on Halloween props but it is of course applicable to other areas also.

Robo sapiens: Evolution of a New Species by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio

A great coffee table book with lots of great photos of robots from academia, military and entertainment. This book always inspires me to try and build something cool.

All of the Forest M Mims books, "Getting Started in Electronics" and the Engineer's Mini Notebooks

Once carried by Radio Shack, these were the books that got me started in hobby electronics