Reddit mentions of Learn C the Hard Way: Practical Exercises on the Computational Subjects You Keep Avoiding (Like C) (Zed Shaw's Hard Way Series)

I second Python as a great beginner language.

Here you go /u/moonknightspidey - http://learnpythonthehardway.org/

You don't have to buy the book, it's available through the web site for free. If you prefer a physical book: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Python-Hard-Way-Introduction/dp/0321884914

The person I'm replying to also recommended Ruby. Zed Shaw also wrote a ruby book.

Online (free): http://learnrubythehardway.org/book/

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Ruby-Hard-Way-Computational/dp/032188499X

And if you're feeling crazy then you can learn you a haskell (don't do this).

Bookmark these for when you get into C later:
http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/ Same guy who wrote Learn Python the Hard Way. The online (free) copy of Learn C etc is incomplete, but is now available in print in full: https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Hard-Way-Practical-Computational/dp/0321884922

Then there's beej: http://beej.us/guide/

And the obligatory TCP/IP book: https://www.nostarch.com/tcpip.htm

If anyone's wondering about why I just spammed the shit out of Zed Shaw's books, it's because his writing style is very easy to get into and keeps your attention. It's anything but dry, and focuses on making you write code, break it, and figure out why it broke.

There are other good Python books as well, like this one: https://www.nostarch.com/automatestuff

And here's another No Starch book on Ruby (I like No Starch - Absolute OpenBSD is a great reference) - https://www.nostarch.com/ruby