For me, the forum is a definite #1 for me. The vast amount of valuable information that one can glean from reading all the give-and-take conversations just can't be beat. When I first started 10 years ago, I became a member of a handful of different soap-making forums on the net and read each one of them, starting from the archives and moving forward before I even made my first soap. It took me about a year of reading, but it was time worth spent.
As books go for beginners, probably the best recommendation I have to offer is "The Everything Soapmaking Book" by Alicia Grosso. There are other good one's out there, too, I'm sure, but hers is one of the few I actually own that I know have been helpful to newbies.
One of the other books that I own is "Scientific Soapmaking" by Dr. Kevin Dunn -a most excellent book- but it's a very technical one that newbies will not find to be a very simple/fun read. lol It takes you behind the scenes into the nuts and bolts of what chemically goes on inside a soap.
As for videos, I like watching Soapmaking 101, EvesGardenSoaps, Ariane Arsenault, and RoyaltySoaps.
For blogs, I like reading The Curious Soapmaker. She has some interesting articles on there.
IrishLass