What are the best pool instructional books available?

from PoolMaster (on Amazon.com):

“The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards” by David G. Alciatore
– best all-round book with best illustrations and web resources

“Byrne’s Complete Book of Pool Shots: 350 Moves Every Player Should Know” by Robert Byrne
– comprehensive set of examples of every type of shot

“The 99 Critical Shots in Pool: Everything You Need to Know to Learn and Master the Game” by Ray Martin
– 99 of the best examples of types of shots

“Byrne’s New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards” by Robert Byrne
– great all-around intro book

“Pleasures of Small Motions: Mastering the Mental Game of Pocket Billiards” by Bob Fancher
– great coverage of the mental side of the game

“Play Your Best Pool” by Philip B. Capelle
– good all-around book for beginners

“Mike Masséy’s World of Trick Shots” by Mike Masséy
– best book dealing with trick shots, by the master

from dr_dave:

I would add the following to this list:

“Play Great Pool” by Mark Wilson
– best coverage of mechanics and fundamentals, also with good coverage of mental aspects of the game

“Pool & Billiards for Dummies” by N. Leider
– excellent all-around introductory book

“PKF” by Zero-X Billiards (Tor Lowry)
– excellent all-around book in nice sprial-bound format

“The Great Break Shot” by Charley Bond
– excellent coverage of break technique and strategy (with good info from Joe Tucker)

“The Eight Ball Bible” by R. Givens
– best book dealing with 8-ball strategy, especially bar-box 8-ball

“Banking with the Beard” by Freddy Bentivegna
– best book dealing with kick and bank shot aiming systems

“Bullseye Billiards” by J. Gage
– excellent target pool CB control drills

And advice for other good books dealing with the mental side of pool, see: recommended mental game books.

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