Hard to tell from the photo, but I'll go with the Purple / House Finch, leaning towards the House Finch. Both have a nice song.

As for bird books - I'd recommend the Sibley guides. He's a terrific illustrator, has flight, perched, side, front poses of all birds, so it's easier to compare birds. Probably the best thing is to get to a good bookstore or nature center that has multiple bird books and compare one type to the next. There are several out there, from the classic Peterson, or Golden Guide (is it still published?), National Geographic, to the more recent Sibley, and some others. The only ones I don't really like are the ones with photographs, you just don't see everything you need to with a photo, where an artist/illustrator works to capture all the little bits. It also helps to have range maps, descriptions, and art work all on the same/facing pages. Peterson actually insisted his range maps be in the back because he wanted you to look at and listen to the bird, not concentrate on some map - long ago I heard the man talk and he answered a question about his book format.