If youre set on becoming an character animator then go for it! its the hardest aspect of 3d but I think definatly the most reqarding, and you can always pick up the other bits (ie particles/advanced modelling) later on.

I'd recomend going through the tutorials that come with PLE just to get grounded on all the tools etc, check out the free tutorials available here and elsewhere on the net, and also get the following books:

Animation theory/reference:-
Animators Survival Toolkit (Richard Williams)
Cartoon Animation (Preston Blair)
Illusion Of Life (Frank Thomas / Ollie Johnson)

Maya specific:-
Learning Maya - Character Rigging and Animation (A|W)
and if your feeling rich - "integrating a creature rig within a production pipeline" (A|W DVD) for some very advanced rigging techniques by the mindblowingly brilliant Jason Schleifler.

I wouldnt bother bulking yourself down with loads of maya books - you'll end up wasting time learning things you dont need to know. imo it is a great idea to have one specific area of interest as the 3d scene seems to be filled with "jacks of all trades, masters of none" (myself included).
hope this is of some help, and welcome to the forum