Suggested Reading for a padawan?

[6degrees]

Greetings,
I am attempting to learn about programming and in particular security. I am researching books that will act as a good primer for learning things such as Assembly Language but I am kind of lost in the woods on this one. what are some good websites/books that you would suggest to a new user trying to learn about what makes a computer tick and how to communicate directly with its hardware?

thanks in advance,
6

Edited to include specifics.

[t0x0]

Start with:
NAND2Tetris
Linux from Scratch
Practical Programming: an Introduction to Computer Science using Python (Gries, Campbell, Montojo)

Spend some time working with Arduino and Raspberry Pi, learn to solder, write some Python, pick some locks, learn the basics.

If appropriate, you might proceed to:
C Programming Language (Kernighan and Richie) - More reference than a introduction, although it has both. Not sure what to point you at for learning C
The Art of Assembly Language (Hyde)
Computer Networks (Tanenbaum) - dry, but good

Additional resources:
http://dfir.org/?q=node/8
http://www.hackercurriculum.org/
and of course http://phrack.org/issues/7/3.html

Edit: there's also this sticky.