"Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" (SICP) by Abelson and Sussman is a must read.
Some other foundational texts I'd recommend:
* "How to Solve It" is a (the?) classic introduction to mathematical problem solving. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It
* CLRS ("Introduction to Algorithms") is the classic introduction to solving problems through computation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Algorithms
Those texts are useful for "programming in the small." [1] As you get closer to "programming in the large" (basically putting together non-trivial software systems), some good things to look at are:
* The "Gang of Four" book ("Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software") introduced the idea of design patterns to software engineering and provides a useful toolbox and vocabulary for thinking and talking about putting programs together.
* Joshua Bloch's "Effective Java" is an insightful set of heuristics on writing good code. Like with Gang of Four, you can get a lot out of this book by looking past the implementation language and thinking critically about the rationale behind the prescriptions in the book. I'd also recommend Bloch's talk, "How to Design a Good API and Why it Matters" (http://www.infoq.com/presentations/effective-api-design).
* A recent talk I found insightful is Rich Hickey's talk, "Simple Made Easy" (http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy). In this talk, Hickey makes a strong argument for simplicity in software and the ramifications for the working programmer. I'd also recommend his talk, "Hammock Driven Development."
*I would highly recommend the "Destroy All Software" screencast series by Gary Bernhardt (https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/screencasts). These screencasts show an experienced developer working through small programming problems in a test driven style and explaining the reasoning behind his decisions as he goes along.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_in_the_large_and_pr...
