Picking a best book is like trying to pick the most beautiful girl. They all have their good points and their bad.
Instead I think I'll skirt the issue and just give you a list of authors that were pretty decent.
Poliquin's first the "Poliquin Principles" was very good and you could get by by just getting this one and augmenting it by reading his T-mag articles.
Bill Starr's stuff is great and most of the current authors still bite his stuff.
Bob Hoffman/York Barbell's Big series of books is a little dated but still decent and worth a read.
Peary Rader's "Masters Course" is a solid workman like program, similar in vein to Starr's stuff with a bit extra thrown in.
Anthony Ditillo is a bit of a forgotten author that is just being discovered again. His stuff runs the gamut from standard American style powerlifting to Russian/Eastern style programs. Good stuff.
Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training is a nice little book for the beginning Powerlifter or Strongman. His other stuff is just a rehash of it though.
Art Dreschlers- The Weightlifter's Encyclopedia is the book for Olympic Style lifter. Too many good things to say about this one. It's a real "thinking mans" weightlifting book.
Doug Hepburn's little booklets are always good if one wants to fall into a nice premade program.
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I wrote that about a year ago, to it I'd add Wendler's 531, Kono's Olympic Style weightlifting, and Pavel's Power to The People.
The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban is a top website too-
http://ditillo2.blogspot.com/ .
