Radio Shack used to carry a line of simple books by Forrest Mimms - excellent place to begin in my mind. They still have them or you may find something used. Usually the front end of the book starts with the most basic of explanations then includes circuit diagrams (and some formulas) for simple projects - made with relatively common parts.
Don't overlook the 30 in 1 or 100 in 1 lab type kits that appear to be toys. While not all that robust the kits have value. Eventually you might promote yourself to a real breadboard - about $200 will get you a nice one with power supplies, function generators, etc.
I have several editions of the Radio Amateur's Handbook however I turn to "Practical Electronics for Inventors" by Paul Scherz quite often.
I'd encourage you to spend some time on the basics, the simple things. Get a low cost DVM or an old VOM, a battery, some reisistors and play with Ohm's law a bit. The 555 timer idea is excellent too - cheap, simple but so much can be learned.