Reddit reviews The New Hermetics: 21st Century Magick for Illumination and Power

Donald Michael Kraigs Modern Magick

Donald Tysons Magicians Workbook

Jason Newcombs The New Hermetics

You can find copies at libgen.io

New Hermetics book has some really cool novice materials to get you started on magickal thinking, ritual creation and practical application.. if you are sort of getting started and that is what you are asking. The chaotes are usually a wellspring of practical stuff as well so you can explore that online and find good materiel, especially from the first gen authors. I jizzed in my pants when I discovered Phil Hine way back when, helped a lot in making sense of what I was doing and experiencing, as opposed to a lot of other authors in the field I just had trouble resonating with. While doing that and practicing you can read up on some classical magelit.

You might actually benefit by not having too much money to throw at books for now. I was working at a used book warehouse when I first got into the occult, which resulted in me buying way too many books than I have time to read. By only purchasing one book at a time, you will be able to focus your studies rather than split your attention.

Based on the reading list in the FAQ, I'd recommend getting something that is in the tradition you are most interested in. Of the paths I know about, I'd recommend Phil Hine's Condensed Chaos for chaos magic and Modern Magick by Don Michael Kraig for Hermetic magic.

Going off the list, Postmodern Magic by Patrick Dunn and The New Hermetics by Jason Newcomb are both excellent crash courses in general occultism with a contemporary twist.

And as others have suggested, get free resources from the internet.

As for the left/right-hand dichotomy, it all comes down to how you want to go about improving yourself though magic. The "right-hand path" leads to unity with divinity, while the "left-hand path" aims to become equal with divinity. Things like black clothing, horned gods or white crystals and angels are just window dressing.

It is important that you remember that you do not need to worry about following one path over the other. They are not roads that diverge in a wood and you must choose when one to take for the rest of your life. "Path" is actually a very poor choice of words for this idea. Think of them as modes, or focuses, for your magical life. You can shift from one mode to the other as needed. Just be sure that you are using symbols that make sense for your world view. Having a focus in Shito spiritualism and then suddenly flipping to goetic demon summoning for one night might not yield effective results.

Wicca is a form of occultism. As an established religion it does not foster the level of free-thinking that many contemporary occultists would like, but it still much more occult than most religions out there. As for mono- and polytheistic occultism, nearly every pantheon has it's own form of mysticism, including the Judeo-Christian religion.