More important than the radio itself is to learn and get licensed. Once you're licensed you should get the radio and start practicing by chatting with your local area.

You've probably read it already but I really enjoyed World War Z by Max Brooks. It has a really unique (at least to me) story telling style and I think gets a lot of things right about how a zombie apocalypse would actually go down.

Your book recommendations are great, thank you for your posts!