Did you install the AutoLISP tutorial when you installed the program? I am not certain that is part of the default installation. I would suggest doing the tutorial as a reasonable starting point. I am afraid that the last AutoLISP book I bought was for Release 11, so I am not going to be much use on recommending a book. (I also still have the printed manual for AutoLISP from Release 12.) The Help files also are worth having a look through. There should still be a section that discusses groups of commands with similar purposes, which is quite helpful when deciding which one you want.
I would also recommend learning to use the VLIDE (Visual LISP Integrated Development Environment, or something like that). Back when I had more time for LISP programming, I used to use a text editor and then tried to debug by loading the routine and see what happened. The VLIDE will help you by letting you format your file with the click of a button, check matching parentheses and run the program to a designated stopping point and then step through line-by-line while watching variable values to determine the location of a problem.
David Koch
AutoCAD Architecture and Revit User
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