I've been collecting Disney books for years and it's hard to pick a favorite type. I like Disney trivia and learning about the company during Walt's life, so I like the Dave Smith A-Z book. I have the original and 2 updates and they look like library books, they've been read so much.
There are many good Disney biographies. I particularly like "Building A Company" by Bob Thomas. It's a look at the building of the Disney empire with regards to Roy's role rather than Walt's.
I love the "insider" tales of the early years like Backstage Adventures with Walt Disney by Charles Shows and Walt Disney and other Assorted Characters by Jack Kinney. A couple good newer books of this genre are Spinning Disney's World by Ridgeway and In Service to the Mouse by Linquist. Not sure of the spelling on either of those. I can check it and send you a PM if you're interested. One of my most prized is Window on Main Street by Van Arsdale France. My holy grail that I'm still hoping to get is Justice for Disney by Bill Justice.
I also love the big beautiful coffee table books. I guess it's really hard to pick favorites when you love them all. The "Art of" series from the animated films, the sketchbook series, Herb Ryman's "A Brush with Disney",
Disneyland by Randy Bright, Inside the Dream, The Disney Studio Story, Nine Old Men, Treasures of Disney Animation Art, Encyclopedia of Animated Characters, Before the Animation Begins, Since the World Began....
Anyway there are a couple of really good websites with extensive listings of books. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to put links here, but if you PM me, I'll send them to you.
Kathy