Core Python Programming (2nd Edition) by Wesley Chun (http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/ http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/) is very good. It's somewhat dated now,

Core Python Programming (2nd Edition) by Wesley Chun (http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/ http://python.net/crew/wesc/cpp/) is very good. It's somewhat dated now, but is very readable. Once you've learned the language, David Beazley's Python Essential Reference (4th Edition) (http://www.dabeaz.com/per.html http://www.dabeaz.com/per.html) is excellent.