I'll second any recommendation for The Art of Computer Programming, and I'll add this as a good entry-level, mathematically-oriented book on algorithms: Introduction to Algorithms, Cormen, Rivest, and Leiserson, MIT Press. It runs around $75, but used copies are fairly easy to find, as it's an often-used textbook.

Of course, the very best thing you can do is go to college, ignore the CS department, and study math and English. That's only partly tongue-in-cheek advice.

adamsj

They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went right ahead and built it. --Gracie Allen