https://www.amazon.com/Theoretical-Minimum-Start-Doing-Physi...
It's a cool book... written to be relatively accessible, but is actually grounded in the real principles and math used in physics. As somebody who considers himself an autodidact of sorts (in that I'm as much self-taught as formally educated), but who has some awareness of "what I don't know" (and therefore doesn't sit around coming up with crackpot theories about quantum mechanics and what-not), I love this kind of stuff.
One of the authors is Leonard Susskind who is pretty credible. This is a book that is serious, but succinct (as you might guess from the title). Note that there is also a companion volume that is specifically about Quantum Mechanics. https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-Theoretical-Leonard...
All of that said, I do think it's important to note (as others already have) that "autodidact != crank". Plenty of autodidacts are just people who study physics (or whatever) because they find it interesting, but they are aware of their limitations and don't pretend to have amazing new insights that have escaped physics for decades, etc. Likewise I'm pretty sure you can find cranks who have a formal education as well.
If you're more familiar with physics than programming, Leonard Susskind's 'Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum' [2] might work better. But I agree with Scott Aaronson that learning about quantum information before learning about quantum physics is easier than the opposite direction [3]:
> There are two ways to teach quantum mechanics. The first way -- which for most physicists today is still the only way -- follows the historical order in which the ideas were discovered. [...]
> Today, in the quantum information age, the fact that all the physicists had to learn quantum this way seems increasingly humorous. For example, I've had experts in quantum field theory -- people who've spent years calculating path integrals of mind-boggling complexity -- ask me to explain the Bell inequality to them. That's like Andrew Wiles asking me to explain the Pythagorean Theorem. [...]
> The second way [...] starts directly from the conceptual core -- namely, a certain generalization of probability theory to allow minus signs.
1: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1826E60FD05B44E4
2: http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-Theoretical-Leonard-...
http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-The-Theoretical-Mini...
This is Leonard Susskinds attempt at writing a book that tells you the bare minimum you need to know to really understand what's happening. (experience with calculus and linear algebra extremely helpful but not necessarily required)
(There used to be a pdf of the textbook online at [3], but it seems to have been removed...)
Scott Aaronson's Quantum Computing Since Democritus [4] is also good, but at a more abstract level. The well-written lecture notes it's based on are on his site [5].
General quantum physics knowledge can also help, but physics-focused content tends to focus more on the calculus whereas quantum computing mostly only uses the linear algebra. I liked The Theoretical Minimum [6].
1: http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computation-Information-Annive...
2: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1826E60FD05B44E4
3: http://www.johnboccio.com/research/quantum/notes/QC10th.pdf
4: http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aar...
5: http://www.scottaaronson.com/democritus/lec1.html
6: http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-The-Theoretical-Mini...
https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Mechanics-Theoretical-GEORG...
https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Mechanics-Theoretical-Leonard...
https://www.amazon.com/Special-Relativity-Classical-Field-Th...
If you get the first one, make sure to get the one titled 'Classical Mechanics' and not just 'The Theoretical Minimum' as the former is a more recent printing with many corrections.