My editor at QUE will kill me, but if you are brand new to Excel, then you should buy Ruth Maran's Excel 2003 Illustrated book. It is full color - about CDN $22 and it is really the best book for people new to Excel. You can read the whole thing in an hour or two and get most of the basics that you will need.
Despite the title, Learn Excel is for people who already use Excel 20-40 hours per week. It is really the book to take you to the expert level.
Special Edition Using Excel 2007 is the comprehensive reference. It is one of the few books to cover all 351 Excel functions. Every single menu item and feature is discussed. If you need a book where you can turn to the index and find a feature, then this is the book for you.
Thanks for your interest. Good luck in your journey towards learning Excel!
Bill