Reddit reviews The 23rd Cycle

"Heliophysics" is a recently coined term to encompass the Sun-Heliosphere system. Only one textbook set exists yet; it is a three-book series based on a series of NASA-sponsored summer schools. The related field of Space Weather has a few textbooks -- Mark Moldwin's textbook on space weather is pretty good. The other end of the scale (in the solar corona itself) is still very exciting. Marcus Aschwanden's "Physics of the Solar Corona" is a phenomenal introduction that is surprisingly comprehensive, readable, and clear.

If you're looking for a popular overview of the subject, Sten Odenwald's "The 23rd Cycle" is a nice one to read -- it's rather like what John McPhee (I'm a big fan) would have written if he wrote about space. Carlowicz & Lopez' "Storms from the Sun" is also nice and about the same level.

If you want great detail, I'd go for Moldwin and for Aschwanden. I think that Aschwanden's book is available for free download (at least it used to be) on his website; it's about $100 in hardcover from Amazon.

Are you looking for graduate school recommendations? University of Colorado at Boulder ("CU Boulder") is excellent, as is Montana State University (in Bozeman). Harvard, Stanford, George Mason University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the University of Hawaii, and University of Alabama at Huntsville are all terrific choices. Remember that, for graduate school, you're looking for an advisor (not a school, necessarily) that is a good match for you -- you really must go visit each school you consider.