Dave Nation's Bookstore 

Bird Watching

• Field Guide to the Birds of North America: For birders of every level, a clear and authoritative guide to the over 800 different bird species found in North America. Features concise descriptions of plumage, distinguishing field marks, detailed range maps, tips on birding techniques and equipment, and more. Full color.
• Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification is a book by Chandler S. Robbins, Bertel Bruun, Herbert S. Zim. It's in a reference book format with detailed color drawings on the right and descriptions on the left including map diagrams of range and sonograms of the songs. It also has a checklist on types of birds in the index.

Computer Science

• The Java(tm) Class Libraries, Second Edition, Volume 1 by Patrick Chan, Rosanna Lee, Doug Kramer

I used this book to develop the WebTOC java applet at the University of Maryland which is featured on this site.
• Designing the User Interface : Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction by Ben Shneiderman - State of the art guide to user interface development by one of the leaders in the field. Used as a textbook in Dr. Shneiderman's class at the University of Maryland.
• Designing Web Graphics.2 by Lynda Weinman uses examples from the author's favorite sites and offers helpful  design, software, and HTML pointers. Written in a casual, conversational tone with a smart layout, the book offers accessible resources and direction for the designer and non-designer alike. Weinman's book covers everything the aspiring (or active) Web designer needs to know, from basic HTML to animation techniques in Macromedia Director and tutorials for the latest release of Adobe Photoshop. Weinman spends a lot of time explaining and deconstructing different techniques for creating and optimizing media elements. Rather than letting the tools lead discussions of technique, Weinman introduces concepts and goals and then follows through with software-specific instruction. Already in its second edition, Designing Web Graphics.2 is the most technically up-to-date resource on Web design.

Rebecca's Picks

• Fabulous Lo-Carb Cuisine by Ruth Glick

Included in these pages are more than 100 great-tasting, easy-to-prepare low-carbohydrate recipes that will add variety to your meals: everything from delicious soups to nut-topped tarts. There are Appetizers like White Pizza, Buffalo Wings, and Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip. Gourmet Salads and Vegetables like Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Salad; Portobello Slices; and Roasted Asparagus. Sensational Sauces and Dressings like Orange-Rosemary Butter, Russian Dressing, and Sweet and Sour Mustard Sauce. Main Dishes like Philly Cheese Steak, Kung Pao Chicken, and Beef Paprikash. And Dazzling Desserts like Key Lime Pie, Strawberry Mousse, Fruit Pizza with Marzipan Crust, and Coffee Ice Cream--all of which use the great new artificial sweetener SPLENDA. Every recipe includes nutritional data, so you'll know exactly what you're eating.
 
• Song of Survival : Women Interned by Helen Coljin

Song of Survival provides a window into an often overlooked dimension of World War II--the imprisonment of women and children in Southeast Asia. It is Helen Colijn's memoir of the three and a half years she spent in a Japanese prison camp on the island of Java. Colijn and her family were living in the Dutch Indies when the Japanese army invaded. When her family's attempt to flee failed, Colijn ended up in one of the many Japanese internment camps for the duration of the war. The conditions were harsh, food was scarce, and medicine was unavailable, but the women who survived the starvation and disease somehow found the courage to persist. They found faith and resiliency in their camaraderie with each other and in their voices. To help sustain them in their captivity, the women created music with lyrics expressing hope and the sentiment that the world has seen too much war. This moving account of extraordinary women inspired the film Paradise Road and should inspire its readers as well. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title.
 
• Lord of Falcon Ridge by Catherine Coulter

"Wonderful story"
Synopsis:
The third adventure in the Viking trilogy finds Chessa kidnapped by Ragnor of York and held on Hawkfell Island, where Cleve, whose memory is returning, must go to rescue her and where unexpected complications set in.

Sculpture

• Human Anatomy for Artists : The Elements of Form (hardcover, 348 pages) is the most detailed and comprehensive book on anatomical structure for artists I've seen. Some of the interesting features are multiple diagrams with three different representations: skeletal, muscular, and skin. Also multiple views of facial expressions and the underlying muscular appearance causing them.
• The Business of Being an Artist is an honest and helpful guide to career issues faced by visual artists: How to find a dealer, make contracts and sell work; whether an MFA degree helps; teaching and other second careers; materials, in terms of health hazards and longevity of the art; criticism and fame, changes of styles, and how to obtain grants and commissions; along with an extensive appendix of resources.
• George Brant Bridgman produced a set of inexpensive paperback books covering different aspects of the body: Bridgmans Life Drawing, The Book of a Hundred Hands, Heads, Features and Faces, Constructive Anatomy and The Human Machine : The Anatomical Structure and Mechanism of the Human Body.