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Gerald Gardner's work is the general go-to for Wicca. Just ignore all the "Wicca is an ancient religion" stuff, and the rest is golden. Check out Vivianne Crowley's "Wicca: the Old Religion in the New Age" for a bit of an easier read, and "The Witches' Bible" by Janet and Stewart Farrar will give you a great idea of what Wicca is like.

For a general overview, the Wicca FAQ on the front page of the M&R forum should help.

In general:
Any book that says it can teach you Wicca is lying, or doesn't know what Wicca is. The only way to learn Wicca itself is through initiation into a lineaged coven, although you can learn about Wicca, up to a certain point, by reading books written by Wiccans and those who have seriously researched Wicca.
Any book that says Wicca can be practised alone is usually talking about a different religion. Wicca must be practised in a coven. However, the other religions these books are talking about may well be perfectly valid and good paths to research and follow. (Just not Wicca.)

You're welcome! biggrin

You can actually read Gardner's books online, but you mentioned you don't like to read lots online. (I'm with you - I prefer my books in book form!)

The FAQ I told you about in M&R will help clear that up properly, but I'll try to summarise.

Wicca is a fertility religion. The issue is that a few decades ago, people started using the word "Wicca" to refer to more general Neo-Pagan witchcraft, much of which was, if not nature based, then at least more nature-focused than it was fertility-focused. It wasn't considered too much of an issue at the time... but then some people published books under the title "Wicca" that weren't really anything to do with Wicca. A whole heap of people bought those books, followed what they taught, and thought they were Wiccan for doing so.

Then these people wrote their own books, and started up covens, and had children, and taught the next generation through these methods what they had learned themselves... and they called it Wicca. And this still goes on. But it's not Wicca. They're various forms of religious Neo-Pagan witchcraft (sometimes referred to as Dedicatory Religious Witchcrafts or DRWs).

Because of that, you have quite a few people who have been researching for years and years but have only been reading the books about DRWs that say they are about Wicca, rather than the books that are actually about Wicca. This isn't their fault really - the DRW books vastly outnumber the Wicca ones, they're easier to find, and they tend to be cheaper. But it does mean that a lot of people have trouble digging through all that and discovering what Wicca is. So, a lot of people who really honestly believe that their religion is Wicca will tell you that Wicca is a nature religion, that you can practise it solitary and so on. The unfortunate reality of the situation is that they've been mislead by the books they've read - not that their religions are wrong, or that they're doing anything wrong in practising their religions.... but they religions they are practising aren't Wicca. It's essentially the title that's wrong, but all things being equal, the rest is fine.

You'll also see Wicca referred to as a mystery religion.

I've been looking at the FAQ, and it has helped clear is up a bit. Thank you for the help! I can say this, I thought I knew a bit of it, but I was wrong.

I might have to wait awhile to try and get one of the books, seeing as how I just spent most of my money on an expensive book on mythology and legends.