Ulysses question

I would recommend reading Portrait of an Artist first. It sets up a lot of context for the Dedalus character. If you have already read it, perhaps a light read (skimming) would be good.

I picked up Gifford's Ulysses Annotated to accompany my next reading of Ulysses.

It may help to familiarize yourself with the musical references in the novel, since these can't be conveyed with a reference like the Annotations (unlike, say, paintings or sculpture). This should provide a good starting point.

In my opinion, get 'The New Bloomsday Book' by Harry Blamires first. It's small and helps ground you to what's going on. Gifford's book is great, but it's as big as 'Ulysses' itself and is more of a reference work. I'd use Gifford when you feel like Shalamar and read 'Ulysses' the second time around.