Must Have Books for Novices

Logical Chess Move by Move by Chernev. This classic explains 33 complete games in detail and explains the reason for every single move.

 

Silman's Complete Endgame Course. Good! Silman separates endgame knowledge into rating level... Unrated-999, 1000-1199 and 1200-1399. Even if you are rated higher than 1400 it's still good to review this material.

Simple Chess by Michael Stean. Introduction to strategy aimed at novice players, but also excellent for intermediates!