Sorry mindless the problem with suggesting a book is the one for me may not be the one for you when it comes to learning to program. Anyone can learn the syntax from any book that accuratly displays it, but to learn the art requires something more then a book.
The best advice is for you to go to Boarders, Barnes and Noble, or the largest bookstore in your area and spend a couple of days thumbing through them till you find one that looks good to you. Then come back and ask about it by name and author or check the comments on Amazon.com preferably both. Only then decide whether or not to buy it.
The most important part is to not only copy the programs from the book (Do not use the cd that invariable comes with them.) but begin to modify them. Break them in various ways in order to learn the messages your compiler gives and how to correct those messages. After a while you will not need books to come up with code to fix problems. You will have begun to learn the art.
After that expose yourself to as much good source code as you can. There is a lot of it on the net. I keep calling it an art because that is how you learn it. It already has to be in you or it will never come out right. Books, exposure to code and other programers will only help refine what is already there.
I am 36 and have been programing since I was 14. I have a library full of books on programing, and several hard drives of code and still I am only a mediocure programer. I wish you well and good luck.
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