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Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religion by Joyce and River Higginbotham

An absolute must-read book for general Neopagan practice. This book does what few others I have read even attempt: philosophy and theology. If you want a book with some actual meat in it; probing questions that will get you thinking about how you see the divine, magic, and the universe, this is a book you'll buy and return to again and again.

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

While I personally don't care for this book that much, it is just plain a classic starting poin in the literature. This was among the first manuals for solitary practice published. For that reason, it's on the must-read list.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland

This is on here for a similar reason as the above work. While I don't personally like it, this one is even more classic than Cunningham's work. For those of you who don't know, Ray Buckland is the guy who braught Wicca to America. Honor his contribution by giving this book a breeze through!

Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler

While some bits of this work are a bit dated, it's still an absolute must-read. This was among the first studies done on the Neopagan movement. I recommend this for more upper-level readers as it is largely academic in its approach.

Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft (3rd Ed)

Wow... a third edition has come out! I'll have to go read it! When I read through dozens of 101 books, this one struck me as one of the best. Presents things in an easy format and lacks most of the misinformation that some other 101 books have.

Inner Temple Witchcraft by Christopher Penczak

I was skeptical of this series at first until I bothered to sit down and read through an entire book of his. It's one of the densest, well put together works I've read in spite of areas where I personally disagree with his take on things. What I suggest is to take his first two books as guideposts and read further on each of the subjects he discusses in the chapters.

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

Yet another early-movement author that is just a classic must-read. Some of her later stuff is quite fantastic, so don't stop here if you like her style.

Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton

If you care even *remotely* about knowing the REAL history of the Craft as opposed to the typical innacurate or revisionistic crap you'll see in most 101 books (such as in Ravenwolf's works or even Buckland's early works and some recent works!) read this. It is *not* a light read. Heavily academic, properly-researched, but as of yet the best history out there.

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

Read as much of his stuff as you have the time and patience for. I haven't given his works the full treatment I would like, but this guy is seriously knowledgable in mythology.

All authors have misinformation in their pages at some point. I can't recommend NOT reading a title. If you don't read what people consider crap, how do you know how to recognize crap from the good stuff? I've read one of her works myself so I could make up my own mind about the author and I'm glad I did. I wouldn't make her works the first books you read, but I would still suggest reading them to get a perspective on the variety of authors out there. There are some things SRW is good for... just know that it isn't historical accuracy and that her version of Wicca is signifigantly more liberal and lax than what many consider to be appropriate.
Telling her readers to lie to their parents isn't what I would like to see. I'm VERY strong against lying, and always ALWAYS ask your parents about studying the religion a little. If they won't read about it, then just take their advice until you can. Maybe you won't in the end. It happens to a lot of people.

Cunningham tends to be good, especially his herbs. His has some dodgey information as reguards the need for initiation and so on but he has to make a living.

Everyone makes mistakes agreed, but Ravenwolf is really wasting your money!

In A Modern Herbal do they cover basics and like you were talkign about; the dangers?

It's worth remembering that the book is pretty old though, in terms of safety issues and so on. Have a look around here:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/mgmh.html