I would like to learn .Net framework in order to develop an hybryd
system.
I do have solid knowledge of general programming with some languages.
I may need information about:

Desktop GUI programming on .Net
Web Application development with Asp.Net
Handling Database with .Net

DBMS used is not yet decided, but i believe it will most probably be
PostGreSQL as MS SQL Server cost a lot and does not provide anything
new while MySQL miss important stuff.
Language will surely be C# as i have an inner antipathy against VB
style and i have a quite strong experience with C sintax (both in C++
and Java).

Could you suggest some good books to learn the above (possibly 2
books, with the database components explained inside the others).
About the style of the books I do prefere a content rich, professional
approach (review of many components, explaination of inner workings,
notes about security and performance) against a sample-code rich,
basic tutorial approach (a few samples are appreciated thought).