The best book to get if you want to build things is: The Art of Electronics, by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Electron

The best book to get if you want to build things is: The Art of Electronics, by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Electronics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Electronics My EE professor told us if we wanted to make things, we should get this book. While the current edition is quite old (1989) it is still a great reference. There is also a lab book that goes with it.