Hey Ivan

I’ve tried books but they really get boring real fast. So I tried this site www.totaltraining.com and got this bundle

http://www.totaltraining.com/prod/bundle/creativesuite2_std.asp?mscsid=

Real cool and there is always the manual

Mark

For Illustrator, I personally think you’re better off experimenting & using online tutorials or forums in case of any problems. Or -worst case scenario- you can always read the manual ;-)
For Photoshop you might want to buy a book if you really want to make full use of its capacities (but for basic things, the same goes for Photoshop as for Illustrator).
There’s no better (or more fun) teacher than curiosity... mixed with a little stamina & interest, that is.
If you’re used to working in older versions of these programs, it’s just of matter of staying up-to-date & the Adobe-site features all the new stuff.
Good luck!

The “Classroom in a book” series are available for various Adobe products, and are very solid.

Also, I can highly recommend the book “Photoshop CS2 for digital photographers” by Colin Smith - best photo book I’ve come across.

For some great insights in the use of Illustrator for typography as well as some excellent drawing techniques and shortcuts, read the “Logo, font and lettering bible” by Leslie Cabarga.

I actually recommend Lynda.com rather than books. The videos are much easier to get through than books. A year ago, I transitioned a workgroup of 35 people from Quark to InDesign using only Lynda and it worked out great. Not to mention the cost of $20 per month is much cheaper than books.

Also, my experience is that Lynda is much better than To