Hello,
Have not read any books purely about sharpening, so cannot recommend any. I cut my teeth sharpening on oilstones and these can be great, but mostly use waterstones at the moment. Also tried ceramic and diamond stones and scary sharp methods. All useful and can get the results you are after. The problem is, you probably don't know what you are after. Almost without exception, beginners do not know what truly sharp is and how much more wonderful a truly sharp tool can be. What you are looking for is as close to a mirror polish on 2 intersecting planes and at no point can you see where these planes meet. Recognise that and you will be making super sharp edges. It is this fact that opens up sharpening to you, not so much the method. Knowing what you are looking for in a sharp edge is the crucial thing and possibly the hard part; rubbing the blade on abrasive is actually easy when you know what the goal is.
IMO combination oilstones are not fine enough and will confound you. You really need another finer step after the fine side of these. I know some here will disagree, but you have to trust me, it really is not good enough. Stropping after the combo oilstone won't do it either, I'm afraid, as the leap in grit size is too great. Stropping is fine, but you still need the finer stone beforehand. Being economical is a good thing, but you have to acheive what you want, not fall short with the excuse that it doesn't cost much. If you want to use oilstones, and I don't blame you if you do, they are very good, you will need a Hard Black Arkansas, or better yet, a Transluscent Arkansas and then the strop. Unfortunately, the Trans Arkansas will be expensive, though will see you grandkids out. It is a good solution.
My advice for economy would be: P150 wet and dry on glass for primary bevel; combo 1000/ 6000 Japanese stone from Axminster (£31) Axminster deluxe honing guide (£11). Cheaper you will not find for getting razor sharp and fast. Gets you working wood without the pfaff.
I would also advise that you get a longer plane for flattening your bench. It is the reference surface from which you will plane components from and you cannot plane anything flat on an unflat surface.
Mike.