Question: In my case, I am planning to design how a website looks; I am a bit of a newbie. I'd love to learn :)
Are there any books that I can refer to?

Answer: 
The world of design is still stuck in an era where designers are seen as people who have 'divine inspiration' and come up with ideas out of the blue. However, in fact it is the opposite- designers get inspiration from working with people, trying things, doing research, understanding better the client and context. Its common sense stuff really. If you don't consider fully what it is you are trying to make from the perspective of how it will go on working in the world after you finish it then you might end up making something that is a pain in the ass for others.
I'm also a newbie in web design.. but I have one good advice for you.. search and search and look for the best website designs in the world, that will rich your creativity and is a very good way for inspiration.. It's totally fine for your first website to be a mixture of a few ideas which you already saw in other websites.. later on you will be able to create your own method and own style.. Good luck :)

**P.S:** Here's one cool inspirational website I like, hope you find it useful
<http://coolhomepages.com/>