hamed63

I didn't actually pick up a web design book for years.
 
I managed to do well by learning online, you are probably more fortunate in the sense there are tonnes of tutorials around nowadays.
 
That said, I wouldn't rule books out of the question completely, I just never had the money to get the ones I wanted.
 
Heres some links that you may find useful.
 
Online:
 
http://htmldog.com/ - Recommended by a lot of users on here for free HTML & CSS tuts.
http://teamtreehouse.com/ - Premium tutorials on design through to programming.
http://www.codecademy.com - Currently focus's more on javascript & programming, useful resource regardless.
http://www.smashingmagazine.com - Useful articles, freebies and tutorials related to our industry.
http://www.netmagazine.com/ - More articles & Tutorials.
http://net.tutsplus.com/sessions/web-design-from-scratch/ - Building a site from scratch.
 
Books
 
http://www.htmlandcssbook.com/ - I haven't read it, however ive heard good things about this book. If your going down the book route, I suggest you start with this.
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design-2nd/dp/098057689X - Knowledge of design principles is key if you want to become a good designer, this book will talk you through step-by-step important aspects of design such as layout, colour and typography.
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ - Usability, an extremely important aspect in any design.
 
Can't think of much else off the top of my head, but im sure other users will have some input.

There are really no "professional" books for web design, HTML & CSS can be picked up fairly quickly the actual design part comes from experience and practice. Once you have a foundation built just keep making websites until your design skills are up to scratch.
 
I already knew html so not sure about any books but I got this one for CSS
 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CSS-Missing-Manual-Manuals/dp/0596802447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330015595&sr=8-1

Yes it does, but that's not the only place it comes from. Learning as much design theory as you can will help you become a worthy designer much more quickly than just trying to wing it. Read up on typography, grid layouts, colour theory to start and you'll be on the right track.
 
Here's a great link for typography http://webtypography.net/
On grid systems http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/five-simple-steps-to-designing-grid-systems-part-1
On colour theory http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/a-look-into-color-theory-in-web-design/
 
Good luck