Looking for Resource Recommendations

Well, I posted earlier looking for some help when I found this forum. When I first set out to begin my final project, I was dead set that I would find a better way to write a database oriented application than what techniques were outlined in class.

What we have been taught is to use the controls in design view, using predefined queries, and load basically entire tables into virtual memory with structures, etc, and search through those variables for output. This seems so awful, to eat up memory with tons and tons of data when you may only be looking to view a single record.

I've realized that I've spent days researching database techniques, and I'm probably not going to master writing database code in a mere week. So I'll do things the dirty way for my final project, because I have to have something to turn in.

However, I'd really like to become a database super star someday! I was wondering if anybody could recommend any books I could buy or online tutorials that they have found particularly helpful in the subject of advanced database applications development.

If anybody has any recommendations, I would very much appreciate a clue to the right direction!

Thanks