Darren Neimke has long been an active blogger and contributor to the programming community.  His latest contribution is ASP.NET Web Parts in Action: Building Dynamic Web Portals.  Although a similar concept, and despite having the same name, ASP.NET Web Parts are a different technology than SharePoint web parts (if you are looking to develop SharePoint web parts, this is not the book for you).  ASP.NET Web Parts are new in the ASP.NET 2.0 Framework and provide a rich foundation for developing custom portals.

Darren has divided his book into two parts.  The first part (6 chapters) introduces portals, web parts and the other underlying technologies you need to know.  The second part (4 chapters) dives deep into extending and managing your portal.  You use the same example through the entire book, so that by the end, you have a functional portal and a complete understanding of how this exciting technology works.  All concepts and examples are illustrated with code and the complete solution can be downloaded from the publisher's website.