[lambdaxymox]

Maybe I'm different, but I used Kleinberg/Tardos and CLRS in my undergraduate algorithms class, and I preferred CLRS to KT and the other alternatives (Algorithm Design Manual, etc.), though KT was great too. I've heard from others that KT was better for them for learning how to actually design algorithms as well.

[vector_spaces]

I had a similar experience. It may be that I have a math background and CLRS feels more like a math book than do other algo texts, but it was a breath of fresh air for me after looking at other popular texts that felt so much more handwavy. It felt so much more concise and the math arguments felt more compelling to me anyway. I mean, I am glad though that different texts exist because different people seem to benefit from different texts.