I think #1 and #3 of these make a particularly good combination; they have very different and quite complementary merits. CLRS is rigorous and precise and analy

I think #1 and #3 of these make a particularly good combination; they have very different and quite complementary merits. CLRS is rigorous and precise and analytical and theoretical. Skiena is handwavy and pragmatic and not always quite correct. CLRS is written for people who will be implementing complicated algorithms. Skiena is written for people who will be using other people's implementations. CLRS is deep. Skiena is shallow. CLRS is heavy going. Skiena is pretty easy reading. (But ignore everything Skiena says about generating random numbers.)