There are lots of books about programming out there, and it seems Code Complete is pretty much at the top of most people's list of "must-read programming books", but what about The Art of Computer Programming by Donald Knuth? I'm a busy person, between work and a young family I don't have a ton of free time, so I have to be picky about how I use it.

I'm wondering - has anybody here read 'TAOCP'? If so, is it worth making time to read or would some other book or more on-the-side programming like pet projects or contributing to open source be a better use of my time in terms of professional development?

DISCLAIMER - For those of you who sport "Knuth is my homeboy" t-shirts, don't get me wrong - I want to read it, but I'm just wondering if it should be right at the top of my priority list or if something else should come first.