The best book on lighting I have found. It teaches about the characteristics of light and how various types of material respond to light. It covers using light modifiers and lighting concepts to control light and solve difficult lighting situations. It is very technical, yet conversational and is an easy read. Every studio photographer should read this book more than once. Anyone doing commercial photography should have its pages of the book worn thin.

Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies by Lee Varis

This excellent retouching guide teaches the basics for post processing and then delves into more advanced topics ranging from simple facial retouching up through creating a fantasy mood, repositioning a subject, replacing skin, etc. The text is conversational and never gets intimidating. Lee includes shortcuts for CS2 commands as he teaches step by step methods for each retouching lesson. Contrary to the title, there is very little on lighting and photographing; it is primarily a retouching tutorial and that is just fine with me. This is a book that will likely get a lot of use over time, as it is rich with useful content for the portrait photographer. It is well worth the investment of both money and time.

Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers by Christopher Grey

This is probably the best quick start book for someone wanting to learn lighting technique for studio portraiture. The book begins with a brief explanation of light and how it behaves with different materials. It then moves through an introduction to the various lights and light modifiers used for studio portraiture, including some do it yourself equipment. This serves as a basic foundation upon which to set the lighting concepts and setups that are covered later in the book. There are several photos to illustrate the effect of lighting ratios and basic lighting setups. There are diagrams to show light placement for each setup discussed and explanations about their use and a lot of good advice. The writing is conversational as if he were there mentoring you by showing you some of the many things he has learned as a professional photographer. Overall this guide packs a lot of information in an easy to understand and later reference format.

Portrait Photographer's Handbook by Bill Hurter

An excellent reference for the budding portrait photographer covering composition, posing, basic studio lighting setups, lighting variations, outdoor lighting, and some other generally useful things. While lacking the depth of the Master Posing and Lighting guides, it covers a lot of territory and does a very good job of it. Consider this book as a starting point for anyone wanting to learn studio portraiture from the ground up.

Master Posing Guide for Portrait Photographers: A Complete Guide to Posing Singles, Couples and Groups by J.D. Wacker

Posing basics in a well written format that is supported with diagrams and photos. He includes a section on corrective posing techniques and also goes into the psychology of posing with a great section on Dos and Don'ts.

How to Photograph Children: Secrets for Capturing Childhood's Magic Moments by Lisa Jane & Rick Staudt

I consider this book more a collection of ideas with smatterings of information. However, these are really good ideas and really good informational smatterings. It is not at all technical, but offers a valuable lesson in how to see and work with children.

Designing a Photograph: Visual Techniques for Making Your Photographs Work by Bill Smith
This is one of my favorite books and yet reader reviews of it vary from terrible to great. It is based on his years of teaching photography for fine art. It does not teach about equipment, exposure, etc., there are other books for that. Instead it teaches about the photographer's tools (selective focus, perspective, figure/ground, et al.) and how to use these tools. It contains exercises to help train the eye  to recognize the visual elements that make a photograph. It does not take the reader by the hand, but instead prompts the reader to explore. The example photos are not fine art, but do exemplify the topics under discussion. I have an older 1985 hardback copy. I have heard that it has been revised and that the newer version is not as good, so you might want to search for used books for this one.

John Hedgecoe's Photography Basics by John Hedgecoe

Actually, any of his many books will be helpful for the fledgling photographer. His books have been around a long time, so just skip over the sections on film. The photography basics are still the same and as applicable today as they were back in the days of film.