Mike Meyers book on the exam is an excellent resource. I glossed through the book in a weekend and took the practice exams and went and passed the exam on Monday. Here is a link: A+ All-In-One Certification Exam Guide

However, I already had about 10 years of hands-on firsthand experience with most of the information covered by A+. I don't know if you could pick up this book with no knowledge or experience and pass the exam.

I took the exam about 3 years ago and at that time the practice exams with this book were almost verbatim of the real exam which also helped. With recent litigation over stealing and publishing real exam questions by some of the certification vendors that may not be the case anymore.

I like the All-In-One series of books in general though as a cram-session resource. Again, I don't think the information is in-depth enough to teach you the subject from scratch, but if you already have some knowledge and exprience they are great books for refreshing your memory on the key points you need to know to pass the exam. I also used the All-In-One book to pass the CISSP exam.