[cgcardona]

I don't have a good book to recommend but I've always thought that PHP has some of the best online documentation of any languages/frameworks that I work with.

PHP Manual: http://www.php.net/manual/en/index.php

[Edit] Derp I just noticed that you mention the manual at the end of your initial post.

[citizenkeys]

One of the nice things about php is how convenient it is to find function details and examples: http://php.net/<function_name>;

The left-hand sidebar also lists all related functions.