I would recommend 'Head First Java' by Bert Bates & Kathy Sierra.
(O'Reilly). Very understandable en very funny !

"Thinking in Java", http://www.mindview.net/Books/TIJ/
JavaRanch http://www.javaranch.com/
Sun tutorials.

For books to buy, I like the 'Head First' collection.  Head First Java
(etc).

Take a look at the Java book recommendations at TechBookReport
http://www.techbookreport.com/JavaIndex.html

Usually books on very specific topics are most useful. You can learn
most of what you need to know about Java in general from free
materials.  O'Reilly make a good series.

If you google with "recommend book"  site:mindprod.com  then the
topic, you should get a recommendation.

Hi.

I would recommend "Effective Java Programming Language Guide"
(http://java.sun.com/docs/books/effective/) and "Head First Java 2th
Edition", both they are good book for beginners.

Manuel
SCJP,SCWCD,SCBCD

If you are an accomplished programmer trying to learn Java, then the
book "Java Precisely" by P. Sestoft seems pretty good from what I've
seen of it.

Otherwise, TIJ is a good recommendation, as is following internet
resources (and in particular, Sun's Java Tutorial).  I'd suggest
following that up with a more comprehensive and rigorous coverage of the
language to ensure you haven't missed something; Gosling, Joy, et al
have "The Java Programming Language" which does that very well, and is
considerably more readable at first than the language spec.

Other good books include anything by Josh Bloch (Effective Java or the
newer Java Puzzlers), but those should come after you think you know the
language.