Well as for diets, I would suggest at least one book, "You: On a Diet." Only because I've found most of its material to be accurate to the currently known research around weightloss and appetite [specifically]. It's a good little book, especially if you're looking to understand weightloss/gain more than anything else.
As for the rest, I'm not sure, I'm thinking about it. :-/
-- Bridget
PS: As for the body shape issue, there's little that can be done with exercise and diet to change the fundamental shape of a person, save for surgery. That's all I know in that regard. o_O