Couple of good books in the right reading order are:
1) Neat little guide to stock market investing - Jason Kelly (Check out his website
www.jasonkelly.com)
2) How to make money in stocks - William O'Neill
3) The seminal The Intelligent Investor - Ben Graham - tough going but an excellent book. Try get the one with commentary by I think it is Jason Zweig as he brings it bang up to date with examples.
4) Beginners guide to short term trading - Female Author (cant remember her name)
These are a couple of ones that came recommended. I have read every one of them and they all have value and present the different trading/investment styles. 1) is mainly dedicated to company fundamentals, 2) a mix of fundamentals and technical analysis, 3) fundamental all the way and 4) purely technical.
1) is a good one to start with. He has just released a new version of it. There is also a new version of 2) out also.
Best of luck with it, though if I was to offer any advice, read the above books (and others). Once you got the knowledge behind you open up a practice trading account and play for a few months before you commit real money. You will be far better prepared than your average joe who starts straight away and usually gets shaken out of his positions straight away.