Tough choice between books or Telescope?

It's not a question of EITHER a telescope OR books: you need BOTH. A telescope by itself is useless: you need at least an atlas or a guidebook to find anything interesting to look at. My personal recommendation is a good book (NightWatch by Terence Dickinson is my favourite) and a membership in an astronomy club. That way you will get to look through telescopes and talk to a lot of interesting people, much better than being alone with a telescope you don't know how to use.