What are some great books to read if you want to learn computer programming for the first time?
A book targeted at the novice in computer programming is Beginning Programming for Dummies by Wallace Wang. Besides a good introduction (chapter 1: Learning Computer Programming for the First Time), it has a CD with Liberty Basic, There are also many on-line courses, such as http://www.learn-programming.za.net/ which gives an introduction to several languages (C, C++, C#, Java, Pascal,…) and http://www.programmingtutorials.com/, a site with links to the programming language you prefer. Good luck.