wrote in message
oups.com...
Do the various downloadable handbooks from the FAA website, viz.
Aeronautical Information Manual, Airplane Flying Handbook, Instrument
Flying Handbook, Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and Aircraft Weight
& Balance Handbook suffice as reading material for obtaining a CPL or
are there other specific books?

No, those don't cover everything you'd want to know (or even for the Private
Pilot certificate).

Add to those the FARs, the applicable Practical Test Standards, the Aviation
Weather Handbook, and the Aeronautical Chart Users Guide, along with perhaps
some more that I've forgotten at the moment. Aerodynamics for Naval
Aviators is another good reference.

Assuming all those references are available (most are downloadable...the
only one I believe isn't is the Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators), they are
sufficient for some people. Other people learn better when the material is
presented in a different way, and for those people there are a number of
books written for that purpose. In a recent thread, Bill Kershner's books
were mentioned; they remain among my favorite of all aviation training
manuals, ever since I read his primary training student manual (the first
aviation training book I ever read, loaned to me by a coworker when I was
first learning to fly). Rod Machado has similar books, and both Kershner
and Machado have a reputation for having an easy-going, conversational
style. For something more text-book like, there are books from King Schools
(John and Martha), Jeppesen, and ASA, among others.

This is far from an exhaustive list, but it ought to give you a good start,
whatever direction your "start" is taking you.

Pete