Book recommendations

Cycling does not only happen on the bike! The more you learn about all related aspects like nutrition, recovery, training methods, strength training, tactics, sport psychology, injury prevention, the more your cycling experience will be fullfulling.

If you could only get a single book, Joe Friel's "Bible" is the way to go. It does a good job at covering the principles of training, describing the cycling abilities for racing, and how to create a periodized training plan.
Ed Burke is known world wide for his work in exercise physiology, nutrition and medicine. Dr. Burke passed away in 2002 and contributed greatly to execise science. For ordinary althletes like us, he has vulgarized this complex science so that we can benefit from it in our cycling.
Serious cycling covers a wide range of topics including cycling abilities, training those abilities, nutrition, planning a season, racing, and bike positioning.
This is another review from a book by Ed Burke written before Serious Cycling and there are overlaps between the two books. But if you can pick up this book it is also very informative covering physiology, training, and health issues like preventing and treating injuries, massage, stetching, preventing muscle camps, and covers common ergogenic aids.
Although this book was written more than 20 years ago, it offers so much to the competitive bike racer. If you are into racing seriously, or would like to learn more about different types of races (road, criterium, time trial), tactics, team work, racing techniques, and stage racing, this book is a must. Eddie B's experience as a former US Olympic coach will certainly make you appreciate all the aspects of bike racing.
This is one of my favorite cycling books because it covers so many practical topics in no nonsense manner from a cyclist who practices what he preaches. Arnie Baker is an M.D. and a successful and experienced cyclist. This book covers both training and racing, in a format that is not too technical, but covers what you need to know. Many topics often not discussed in other books, such as tips to lighten up your bike, racing and tactics with a more personal touch based on the author's experience, rider confidence, preventing and treating a saddle sore, all about wheelsuckers, written in a style that gives you the impression you have your own private coach.
This is a condensed book that packs lots of information about road cycling skills in just a little more than 200 pages. It is a collection of practical topics each being a few pages in length. For example a few of the topics covered are riding in very hot tempertures, wet conditions, descending, simple nutrition tips, group and paceline riding.
This is a book about learning what happens inside your body during excercise. It's exercise science communicated in manner that althetes without a master degree can understand. Topics include athlete physiology, carbohydrate and fat metabolism, protein usage, medical issues, recovery, sleep, overtraining, the immune system, and many more. There are hundreds of hundreds of external references.
This is a sports psychology book targetted specifically for cyclists. Once you have a program in place to train your body physically, that's only part of the equation. When multiple competitors are of similar strength during a race, often what determines the outcome is the mental preparation. This book covers practical examples and excercies to improve you mental preparation and focus for bicycle racing.
If you have had your bike tuned up a few times at the local bike shop you know the costs add up quickly. Learning to maintain your bike will save you lots of dollars and you won't always be depending on the schedule of the bike shop. This is a general purpose guide for both road and mountain bikes that will guide you to perform common adjustments and repairs. Step-by-step instructions are provided and the right tool for the right job is properly indicated. Common problems and solutions are also detailed.
Running is a great aerobic sport in its own right when performed progressively and with good technique to avoid injuries. For "pure" cyclists, running can be used as cross training during the base period, and in addition to adding variety, running will strength joints that are usually not solicitated in cycling. Many people who start running, increase the volume too quickly and injure themselves. I've been guilty of that, and had I come across this book, the technique shown in the first 50 pages of the book, would probably have prevented injury while improving efficiency.