As far as books, I highly recommend The Complete Book of Woodworking: http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Book-Woodworking-Detailed/dp/1890621366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335885982&sr=8-1. It's easy to follow even for the uninitiated. It goes over the major tools, what they are used for, and has excellent instructions on some starter and intermediate projects. There are even some workbench projects toward the end, one of which is made only from plywood and 2x4 lumber. I made it with a jigsaw and really uneven cuts, and it's held together well for about a year (it's usable for everything except hand planing). I'm also a software engineer by trade and learn well from books, so I spent a good few months obsessing over this book in my apartment before buying a house and really getting started.
For video instruction, The Wood Whisperer is one of my favorites; he gets into what tools are used for, how to set them up and tune them, and has some videos dedicated to safety. He's also very technical and comes from a science background, so the engineer in me relates well with him. He doesn't leave out many details. Fine Woodworking is also very good and for $5 a month you can get access to a ton of video content.
http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com
http://www.finewoodworking.com
SawmillCreek and WoodworkingTalk are nice forums to search through for tips and discussions about what tools are best used for what projects.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com
Most of these will discuss fine woodworking, furniture making, and detailed joinery, which you may or may not be interested in. All of them, however, will give you information you want about tool usage. It may be more detail than what you're interested in for the projects you describe, but if anything you'll be over-prepared.
Best Answer
I think the typical "you get what you pay for" rule of thumb applies for the most part. That being said, sometimes things are cheap because they are not designed to last under heavy load like drills that use plastic gears instead of metal. In these cases, assuming you only lightly use the tool, they might last for decades. Some other tools are cheap because they are just poorly made. An example of this is a tablesaw whose guide isn't accurate or that slips when used. But again, it really depends what you are doing with it. If you are just doing rough cuts, a 1/16th slip might not be a big deal for you, but for precise work, it will.
The good thing about online shopping is that many of these products have customer reviews on them where you can read about actual experiences. I suggest that you review these for the tools you are considering and come to your own conclusions. Also talk to the staff at your local tool store - they usually have good insight on this type of thing.
Always keep warranty and return policy in mind - even expensive tools can break and the warranty makes the difference between years of service or a paper weight.