Member: joeldinda

CollectionsYour library (3,311), Joel (2,621), eBook (396), Currently reading (8), Joan (692), Mom (13), Michigan (285), Baseball (1,292), Hornblower (130), Mining, Iron, Steel (82), Rails (29), Business (13), Shipping (63), Tombstone (11), Article (2), All collections (3,311)

Reviews209 reviews

Tagsfiction (731), reference (498), history (445), minor league (428), ebook (386), science fiction (340), midwest league (293), yearbook (288), epub (278), program (230) — see all tags

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About meProne to enthusiasms....

I grew up in Kalamazoo, served in Vietnam, graduated from Macalester College, and have retired after more than three decades as a government bureaucrat. We usually vacation in West Virginia, northern Michigan, or northern Minnesota--all of which are mining areas. I've lived in our small town for over twenty years. I'm the author/webmaster of A Fan's Guide to the Midwest League, which is no longer being maintained, and the keeper of A Dabbler's Journal, to which I occasionally post stuff.

These days my main pastime is photography. And I've always gone to baseball games.

About my libraryThere's a ton (possibly literally) of baseball reference material, many books devoted to Great Lakes history and tourism, some mining history materials, computer books in various flavors, and a lot of science fiction. There are remnants of what once were fairly serious railroadiana and bicycling bookshelves. I've recently completed the Nero Wolfe corpus, and these days my reading includes books about the history of computing and about making popular music. And I read novels that resemble the Horatio Hornblower set, including several SF series (space operas, all of 'em) based on the Royal Navy. I tend to buy heavily on specific topics as things strike my fancy. Those infatuations, too, show here.

About twenty percent of these are Joan's. Hers run to nature guides, mysteries, Tom Clancy-like books, Stephen Jay Gould, and Richard Feynman; she's been on a Evanovich/Peters/Grafton kick recently, but seems to have pretty much exhausted that vein and has moved on to Conan Doyle imitators. I inherited some of my parents' books; they're in the Mom collection. While there's some system to my tags, I'd never be mistaken for a systematic tagger.

Reviews: I rate everything I read. I write reviews if 1) I've got something to say and 2) what I'd say hasn't been covered by other reviewers. I'm therefore unlikely to add a review if the book already has several others. I'm more likely to review nonfiction than fiction, but see point 1) above. Some of my reviews merely summarize the contents while others are more critical; a few are just comments or wisecracks. I am also systematically writing reviews of some basic baseball research titles, whether or not anyone else has commented. At this time I'm also writing notes about publishers who haven't solved ebook publication; these notes generally follow a perfunctory review of the book that prompted the comment. Ratings on the ebook-publishing reviews concern the textual content only.

At least half of my reading, these days, is published electronically. Joan owns a Kindle and a Fire, while I own two Nooks and a Sony Reader. My smartphone and my tablet computer have several ereader apps apiece. I've used all these devices, and they are different but largely interchangeable. This is an evolving technology; none are everything they could be.

I'm aging, and the house is small, so I've taken to selling books on Amazon (I've abandoned eBay as it appears to now be managed by idiots). Those sales have roughly balanced the book purchases I've made over the past few years. I was hoping I'd actually gain, but no such luck.

GroupsBooks in 2025: The Future of the Book World, Ebook, Midwest Writers/Readers, SABR Members, Say Yes to Michigan, The Black Orchid (A Nero Wolfe Group), The Detroit Tigers

Favorite authorsJohn Brunner, C. J. Cherryh, e. e. cummings, David Drake, Bill James, Peter Morris, Patrick O'Brian, Tim O'Brien, Robert Silverberg, Rex Stout, Mark L. Thompson, John Varley, Richard Woodman (Shared favorites)

Homepagehttp://dabblersjournal.com

Also oneBay, Facebook, Flickr, Flickr, Twitter

Real nameJoel Dinda

LocationMulliken, Michigan

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/joeldinda (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/joeldinda (library)

Member sinceNov 17, 2005

Currently readingSports, jobs, and taxes : the economic impact of sports teams and stadiums by Roger G. Noll
They had to go out : true stories of America's coastal life-savers from the pages of Wreck & Rescue Journal by Frederick Stonehouse
Accelerating Returns by Peter Anthony
Nelson : love & fame by Edgar Vincent
Small Towns: A Map in Words by writings at the ledges
Reliving lighthouse memories, 1930s-1970s by Sandra L. Planisek
Pioneer history of Eaton County, Michigan, 1833-1866 : or the story of the last to live the simple life ... by Daniel Strange
Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe (Vintage) by George Dyson
show all (8)