what instruments and tools do you use for wind and weather ?

i am only just now reading about some of this for the first time.
obviously there is a wind vane for measuring wind direction, but how do
you measure wind speed ? or do you ? i know the basic tool for
measuring wind speed is an anemometer, but i've never actually used one
before. do you use one ? is it mounted on the boat or handheld ? or
do you just look at the waves and "guess" ? how do you use it, i mean,
how do you use the information yourself in your cruising, what purpose
does it serve for you ? how do you measure pressure and/or humidity ?
or do you ? what kind of instruments do you have, do you just use a
regular wall mounted barometer ? in general i'm curious what
instruments for wind and weather that you folks use, how you use it,
what purpose they serve for you, etc. i'm constantly reading in books
that some boat captain had 30 knot winds and the pressure was falling
such-and-such an amount per hour ... was s/he just guessing at the wind
speed based on wave heights and general observation, or was s/he
holding a handheld anemometer up in the air or what ? the books never
say! was the captain watching a glass barometer to get the pressure ?
i'm sure some boats have more sophisticated instruments and methods
than others, but what are they ? and i'm assuming too that some folks
use weatherfax and things to get weather reports in addition to making
direct measurements to help predict weather and see what's going on.
and i've even read about using airmail to get weather maps.
experience, i'm sure, also goes a long ways, cloud observations, that
kind of thing.

what kind of weather instruments do you use and how do you use them ?

can you recommend any good books on this topic for cruisers ?