Introduction to Algorithms

Cormen, Introduction to algorithms

8. Introduction to Algorithms (The MIT Press)

CLR Algorithms book

Introduction to Algorithms -Thomas H. Cormen

CLRS is pretty accessible for beginners, at least as far as computer science textbooks go.

CLRS + ocw mit course should be good in my opinion. Really helped me a lot

I read CLRS in the fashion you described, mostly cover to cover, as a textbook with exercises. I found it extremely helpful.

I would recommend "Introduction to algorithms"

Much easier to follow than CLRS (and much more manageable in size, though it obviously leaves out a lot of the stuff they cover).