As far as asking questions, I wouldn't feel too self-concious about it. The information in books is good, but sometimes they don't do a good job of letting you know what a mere mortal should expect.

Most of my favorite books have already been mentioned, except this one:
Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Bicycling

Greg was sort of the polar opposite of Armstrong/Carmichael. He was, perhaps, more casual and less focused. His approach to riding and training is easier to digest than the Carmichael approach.

Of those mentioned that I'm familiar with, I like the Carmichael training approach the least. He seems to regard clients as tables of statistics, not humans. Maybe it works. Maybe it works the best! I'm just not committed enough to take such a clinical approach.

Another good one for cyclists (not specifically about training) by Arnie Baker is Bicycling Medicine. Arnie is a practicing physician, cycling coach, and cat 1 racer (what does he do in his spare time?).