As I learn more about succulents, I've been relying on several terrific books. I thought I'd share them all (with mini-reviews, where applicable) in case anyone else might find this useful. (I've included Amazon links to each.) So far, I only have a couple of reviews up, but I promise to get more up as I get around to it! I'll start with three of my favorites:
Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye-Catching Displays With 350 Easy-Care Plants, by Debra Lee Baldwin
This was the first succulent book I read, and it remains one of my favorites. Debra Lee Baldwin's Succulent Container Gardens is great for the beginner or the expert gardener. I like it because it has such a great mix of design ideas, general design principles, and hard-core gardening advice, like how to mix the best soils for your succulents. My other favorite thing about this book is the outstanding photography, much of which is done by DLB herself. Even though I've read this book cover to cover, every time I pick it up, I seem to learn something new.
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Succulents: Propagation, by Attila Kapitany and Rudolf Schultz
I picked up Succulents: Propagation at the Succulent Extravaganza, and have barely put it down since! This easy-to-read guide has tips for four or five different propagation techniques for various kinds of succulents, plus useful charts clearly showing which types of plants can be started from leaves, which types should be propagated in what months, etc. I was skeptical of the $25 price tag for such a slim little paperback volume, but it's worth every penny. It doesn't appear to be available new on Amazon, but some used copies are available.
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The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World: A Comprehensive Guide to More Than 2000 Species, by Fred Dortort
I am totally nuts over this book. It's the most comprehensive guide to succulents that I've seen, and it's organized by type and sub-type, so it's very easy to navigate. Additionally, you get to learn about succulents in the wild: what grows where, and why. It reads like an encyclopedia (not in a bad way, though--just that it's not particularly chummy, nor is it focused on matters of design or personal aesthetic. The sole downside of the Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World is that there's not a picture of every kind of plant Dortort describes. So a page might have a paragraph about, say, seven different kinds of haworthia, but only have photos of three of them. I'm fine with this, because there are still a lot of pictures. And if I'm reading about something and want to see a picture of it, a quick Google search will turn up a photo. Not exactly a "starter" book on succulents. Hefty price tag, too--cheapest on Amazon. My own copy is actually from the library, but eventually I'd love to own my own copy (note to girlfriend: hint, hint).