Need some basics

[L. B.]

Hi all,

seems that this is the right place to ask this question since many
people who hang on this group are very much experienced in computer
programming and the 99% knows more than just Python...

I'm quite a newbie in programming and i'm soon getting tired of the VB
crap (and that's why i'm learning Python)... i'd like, someday, to
define myself a programmer, but i feel i'm missing some valuable
basics of computer science: algorithms, data-structures, software
engeenering... and when thinking about making even a simple game (like
tic-tac-toe) i found myself screaming just for thinking how it should
be done.

So here is the question... assuming that i'm too old (26) for going
back to college and study something else that Politics and Economics
which doesn't seem to be anything computer-related ;-) which book
should i study, which books shouldn't miss from a serious programmer's
bookshelf?

Thank You,
Lorenzo