join a club for starters because that is where the REAL chess takes place.
And you should probably study tactics until you are well above 1600 at chess.com.
I am rated 2031 atm and I still pretty much only study tactics. The exception is that when I have played a game I usually sit down and try to figure out where I went wrong. Sometimes I didn't understand the opening correctly and sometimes I neglected the importance of an open file etc, and then I try to remember that so that I don't make the same misstake twice. I think this is a good method because that way you fill the 'holes' in your play. Everyone is different you know.
And if you want to study something else, try out Nimzowitch's My System because it is pretty much what started all this hype about 'positional play'. But I would recommend postponing studying anything other than tactics until you are much much higher rated (if your chess.com rating is accurate, that is) because you won't understand ANYTHING if you don't have at least a weak understanding of tactics!
So study tactics, and go over every lost game and try to figure out why you lost and REMEMBER to not do the same thing again. Once I missed a mate in two when I was two pieces up against an 2000 OTB player (I am 1564 OTB) and you can be sure I will never ever miss such a mate again!!
i really want to start getting serious about chess (reading books and studying the game in depth), but i have no idea where to start
there are tons of opening books but they explain lines that more than often don't occur in my games and don't explain how to handle deviations, middle game analysis is fun to read but it pretty much never applys to any game i play because thre are just way to many situations, end game covers a lot of the basic ideas and is pretty helpful but overall this doesn't really help my play
any suggestions on what i should do or a course of action i should take (what to start with etc)