I’m sorry but I will not agree that Pozar is the best choice.
It depends on what you want. Pozar isn’t a book for starters neither for someone who really wants to understand RF and Microwave theory.
It’s a book for engineers, probably one of the best books for an engineer, but nothing more.
Its title declares it: Microwave Engineering.
There are a lot of books much more educational than Pozar like:
Foundations for Microwave Engineering by Robert E. Collin
I assure u that it covers Pozar. It is a connection between theory and practice. It’s not easy to read but neither is Pozar. They both require considerable math knowledge.
If u don’t have it or u just want to be able to make some constructions and devices, u can buy the:
The ARRL HANDBOOK for Radio Communications (the comprehensive RF engineering reference), published by “the national association for amateur radio”
It will help u to construct whatever u want and u will learn a lot of things reading it.
New editions are released every October, it’s really cheaper than the above and every radio-amateur loves it.
And dont forget to visit:
www.educatorscorner.com and click "RF corner" or search for
“application notes” into the site. There is a really huge amount of information about RF, microwaves and communications.
Thank u for listening