JB,
You will not find a better book on fly tying for beginners than the one by Gathercole. He is one of the finest fly dressers in the country.
If you do want to learn to cast without instruction, here is a tip that has worked with some people.
Get about 50 feet of rope. The soft stuff preferably.
Then go into a field and lay out the rope on the grass.
No - don't start laughing.
Take hold of the rope in your best hand and flick it backwards so that it's now laying behind you in the opposite direction. The flick the rope forwards so that it's laying out straight again. Keep doing this until you can flick out the rope backwards and forwards easily.
Even kids can do this. It really is that easy.
Now you are going to do something even easier. Assemble your fly rod and line, making sure the line and rod are matched and lay out about 12 yards of line in front of you. Tie a knotless tapered leader to the end of your line and at the end of your leader tie a bit of wool.
Pick up the rod and hold it in a comfortable grip, not unlike the grip on a tennis racket but with your thumb on top. Oh and by the way if the cork handle has a plastic coating on it, cut it off.
Stand looking down at the line and point your rod along and down the length of the line. Hold the length of line leaving the reel and entering the butt ring line in your left hand AND KEEP IT DOWN BY YOUR SIDE.
Lift the rod, slowly at first, just as you did with the rope to get the line moving.
Then accelerate the rod into a back flick.
The line will go out into the air behind you.
When it is nearly all out behind you in the air. Flick the line forward and the line will shoot forward nice and straight. Remember the rope. Don't try to power the line forward, just flick it like you would try to flick paint off a paint brush. Allow the line to alight on the grass. Now you can start again
After a bit of practice. You should be getting the line to land gently straight out, onto the grass in front of you.
If you get the hang of this you are 90% there.
The whole idea of the rope is to get your mind off trying to cast the fly. It's actually impossible to cast a fly, it's too light. What you are actually doing is casting the line. The fly goes along for the ride.
When you can do this, go along to a professional instructor and he will iron out the rest.