Chess books - What they're good at
The first thing an intelligent person does to learn about a certain thing is hit the books. (Not literaly, of course) Chess is such a great sport, that people have written countless books about it. Those books usually offer tactics, usefull tips, strategies, or deep analysis. In this blog post I will offer you virtual books to read (In PDF format) and motivate you to read them.
Some usefull links
Chess books for beginners (Includes fundamentals of chess, openings, strategies, endgames, and more)
Collections of games (Includes SWCC, Kasparov, St.Pet's tournament, and lots more)
Elements of chess (Deep analysis and usefull tips)
Me and books
I personally have only red chess books in PDF formats like the ones above. A friend gave me some very usefull books when I got to Chess.com, which put me on the right path. If I were you, I'd pick one of each. An opening, a midgame, a strategy and an endgame. Once you've studied those, you should plunge deeper into special game analysis.
At this point if you're too busy (Say you work 8 hours, or study 24 hours, etc) and you can't read a book, you need to give the book some priority. We're not talking chess books, we're talking literature. Books are the windows of the independence wall. You should allways read to get smarter. But, if you're the president of a country and you're busy 24/7, I understand. Anyhow, I suggest you make a literature schedule if you're busy. I for one study from 6:35 AM to around 18:00 PM, time at which I usually eat and take a shower and do other things untill 19:00 PM. I've settled with a very nice program in which I read books, I usually dedicate exactly one hour of free time each day to reading. (Though it may seem small, it's very effective, and I usually finish reading a book in about a week or two). In the weekends I usually read myself to sleep. That's what I suggest you do. You dedicate at least one hour to reading every day. If still it doesn't work for you, you can do something else : Either read more in the weekends, or read before you fall asleep (Very effective, even helps with the sleeping part 
).
As for chess books in particular, I suggest practicing what you read. If I read a chess book I do it with a chess board in front of me. If you're reading a book about an opening, go on chess.com, start 3 online chess matches and practice that opening. If you win on all 3 means it's great. If you only win in 1, it means you should look for better ones.
Obtaining some reading material
The links supplied above will redirect you to a site which has free PDF books avaible to download. It's a great source but not the best. You should seek out chess books at your local city library, or you should look on chess.com, since it has some materials that can turn out usefull. Aditionally, if you live in a poor country, you can seek out PDF books about chess on the internet, however I don't guarantee those are the best you can find.
The conclusion is, books allways help you. Chess or poetry, it will contribute to your mental health one way or another. Chess books are generally one step forward towards improoving your own game style.
