Best literature for self-ed. on first time home purchase

My wife and I will be in the market for our first home purchase near the end of this year, and I want to educate myself in the interim to be as well-prepared for the process as possible. I'm looking for any books and/or literature with useful info from home purchasing to the real estate process in general (i.e. the interplay of agents, brokers, fees, etc.)

Does anyone have any good recommendations in this regard?

P.S. I have a couple friends who took real estate license exams in the last couple years, so I'm sure I could use those materials (if useful).