Broker's advice

I would like some advice on what to look for in a futures broker, and welcome some recommendations.

I have tried to compare several brokers online, commissions, execution, contracts offered, trading platforms, etc. but it is not so easy to do, especially for someone new to futures.

Any recommendation on books, articles, website to learn the basic of trading futures contracts.

Thank you for your help.

Here are a couple of links for books: Classics and Top Ranked

For a trading platform I'd recommend Ninja Trader. They have a good free and realistic simulated mode to learn on.

There are a ton of articles here: Trading Articles