Terrific travel resorces
Lonely Planet is the leading and best resource for any traveler, even if you're staying at top end places and want to live as a queen. Their detail, insights and advice have made every trip I've ever taken so much more valuable, and kept me "culturally appropriate". A top investment.

One of the weaker of the Lonely Planet guides
I recently used the 2007 Edition of this guide during a trip through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The quality of Lonely Planet guides varies widely and unfortunately this is one of the weaker ones. The coverage is probably best for Kazakhstan and weakest for Turkmenistan.

* The maps are often either weak or missing. For example there is no coverage of the newly developed capital areas of Astana or Ashgabat, despite their many key buildings.

* The recommendations for hotels and restaurants sometimes seem capricious. In particular many of the authors' "picks" seemed of very dubious merit.

* The pragmatic information is occasionally unreliable. For example, in Andijon there is no map, the orientation information is wildly misleading, and the wrong bus station is specified for Tashkent buses. Sigh.

* Prices often seem very out of date and apparently haven't always been revised from earlier editions.

I don't want to seem too negative: although there are gaps and errors there is also a lot of useful information. In discussing the guide with other travelers, we lamented its weaknesses, but no one had a better alternative. For now, it does seem the best best for overall coverage of the 'stans. But you might want to read it with a degree of caution and be ready to adjust your plans where necessary!

Your companion to Central Asia
Well researched and easy-to-use, this Lonely planet was our primary companion to plan our and along our trip to Central Asia.

The only drawback is that the conversation guide is very limited (on purpose I guess), so if you don't speak any Russian, invest in a conversation guide for your trip.

a practical overview
This doesn't answer questions such as, "What kind of winter jacket should I bring", but it does tell you about the traditional Kyrgyz practice of wife abduction. The packing lists on the Peace Corps wiki are a good source if you need to know what kind of clothes to bring: [...]. Type in "Packing list for ___(country)___". Unfortunately, they only have lists for the countries in which the Peace Corps has volunteers. However, most likely they have people somewhere in the region about which you are interested.
This book is full of practical information about each country (and some funny tidbits), some ideas for itineraries, and useful tips. Since I have not seen any alternative, this is your best bet if you want a guide to Central Asia.

Excellent guide to central asia
Once again Lonely Planet has done a very good job. This guide is the best introduction to the five Central Asian countries. I used it in Tajikistan recently and intend to use it again.