Vince Staten

I thought that this was a great book; but then I'm a baseball fan, so I may be biased. Staten discusses what may be described as "baseball origins" in the context of a 2002 game between the Florida Marlins and the Cincinnati Reds at what was once called Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. It was interesting to read about how gloves, turnstiles and baseballs are made and how they evolved over time. I didn't know, for example, that "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", that seventh-inning stretch show more tradition, was originally part of a story about a guy and his girl discussing where to go on a date. There's a lot of interesting facts about baseball in this book's 290 pages. show less

A cute, quaint memoir of the family hardware store with a paragraph each about hardware store items. Much like a Wikipedia entry, items generally get a history of who invented them (or may have done so). A few things merit a few pages, like light bulbs and paint. This may appeal only to others with a hardware store career background.

A paean to the small-town hardware store, laced with reminiscence and industrial history. It's focussed rather more on the small business and social aspects than on the tools etc. May be mildly interesting to those, like me, who enjoy finding a nice hardware store.

This book is a wealth of good info about the food you eat. A lot of origins, random facts, things to watch for.