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: 
Design basically boils down to this:

1. Who is my target audience?
2. What is the goal of my website?
3. How can I use colors, typography, and graphics to cater to #1 and satisfy #2?

For beginners, I would recommend these books to get started:

**[Dont make me think, revisited](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0321965515)** 

This will teach you the basics of UX patterns when structuring your website, which is vital for creating good *experiences* when browsing your site

**[Notes on Graphic Design and Visual Communication](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1560520442)**

A very short read, but this will teach you the basics of what makes *good visual design* - loose rules for colors, contrast, gestalt shapes, spacing, etc. It was printed back in the day and intended for print design, but I think the rules can still be applied to the web

**Graphic Design Thinking**
www.amazon.com/Graphic-Design-Thinking-Briefs/dp/1568989792/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394138531&sr=1-1&keywords=Graphic%20Design%20Thinking

If you want to move beyond designing a website *theme* and towards designing a *brand* for a company (which includes their website), you might want to learn brainstorming techniques such as mind mapping, brand matrixes, the use of visual metaphors, and tying it all back together to create a consistent and holistic *brand experience* (though this is merely a starting point, it is much more complicated than this).

In addition, there are a TON of online resources to guide you towards the right direction:

**Under Consideration** 
www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/

A favorite for designers to review and discuss recent rebranding efforts for companies, big and small

**Dribbble**

More of a resource for icon creation, which is a small part of web design (but a very important visual one)

**A List Apart**
www.alistapart.com/topics

Covers just about everything you want to know about web design

**52 Weeks of UX**
www.52weeksofux.com/

Self explanatory

**Typecast**
www.typecast.com/

The typeface you use in photoshop/illustrator/whatever program will not be the same as what you see online. This website eliminates that confusion
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/>