bunny a moses basket is an oval wicker basket, sometimes with a hood, usually on a stand, which the baby sleeps in for the first few months and is small and portable to have in the parent's room to make night feeds easier. A crib is a more solid wooden usually rectangular version, often on a stand and can be rocked or swings. Small enough to go in the parent's room but not as portable. A cot is a small bed with the side bars. Often the mattresses can be raised to save Mum's back while the baby is little then can be lowered so baby can't climb out when they are older. You can drop the side down to make bending over & getting to baby and the mattress easier. You can also get cot top changing mats which have a solid base and sit on top of the cot to make a handy changing table and make night changes slightly easier. Useless once baby is bigger as it just becomes a climbing frame! A cotbed is a bigger bed, almost a standard single bed size with sides originally but can be totally taken apart and dropped down to make a bed later. Then there are side cots/cribs or cosleepers. These can be made the same height as your bed and attach to the side of your bed making an extension so the baby is within arms reach and on your level so you can easily comfort and reach baby in the night, don't have to get up to breastfeed but "safer" according to ridiculous western ideals than traditional cosleeping which has baby in the parent's big bed with them.
As for books it depends what kind of mother you are! Gina Ford (who is the devil as far as I'm concerned) has a very strict and definite routine to the extent it's like "Mother must wake at 5.50am and be showered and dressed by 6.00am, baby must wake at 6am and be washed, clean nappy and dressed by 6.10am. Baby must have exactly 4oz of milk from left breast, starting at 6.12am and finishing at 6.27am. Mother must then express 4oz from right breast yadda yadda" and has strict sets of rules about how the house MUST be set up and what equipment you need etc. SO not my style but works for some and useful if you have to get into a strict routine if you're working or have other little ones etc. She uses harsher techniques like controlled crying. That's one extreme end of the scale and at the other end you have the continuum concept which is more my thing - no routines, no clocks, no rules, all very chilled and laid back and all totally about the baby which is great if you don't have to work and if that lack of routine and inability to plan anything works for you - I do more this style but it means DD didn't sleep through till she was 3 as you don't make them get into a routine or sleep though, you leave them to decide to do this on their own and I never got anywhere before noon, we coslept till she was 2.5 and ended up in the same bed most nights till she was 6, but she slept till 8.30, none of this 6am nonsense! It encourages baby to be part of the adult family and thinks that the baby learns things like knife safety by being worn whilst mum chops veg and at 18 months old they can use a proper sharp chopping knife to cut veg on their own... the opposite extreme to Gina Ford! Personally I think it is useful to read these books and get a feel for the different ideas and techniques but don't take any of them too seriously but I don't think it really helps an awful lot before hand, I think it's easier and less pressure to learn on the job so to speak and if you get too many firm beliefs beforehand you could set yourself up to "fail" when your particular baby doesn't do what the book says it should! For now I would continue to look around online for free and see where you might land. A lot of people like the Baby Whisperer but I didn't find it any use for us, to be honest. It was a much gentler version of Gina Ford and still used routines and certain techniques but not so strict and such a nazi about it! The celeb books like Jules Oliver (which was the latest one when I had DD, as was Mel's book, from Mel & Sue fame) and the bombardment of latest celeb mum books were more narratives of their lives rather than anything actually helpful. They were alright if you're interested in those celebs but not really a manual on baby care.
The books I found most helpful to be honest were a few on activities and ideas of what to do with baby from birth to 5, and suggested cheap, free, homemad activities to do each day like how to turn a loo roll into a rattle or kaleidascope or today's game is a sitting up game which helps strengthen their backs and tummy's and prepare them for sitting whilst being fun, or how to make window rainbows out of kitchen roll sheets and food dye etc. Those were good, I had 3 or 4 of them. Also my local NCT do a Tots About Town book which lists every local park, playgroup, changing room, restaurant, class, support group and reviews how good they are and whether to avoid them on Thursday afternoons or turn up half an hour early or you won't get in etc. That was a godsend!