LidABVR(he, him, his)

Echte naam

A. Bowdoin Van Riper

Over mijn bibliotheek

My LibraryThing catalog is mostly books on history, science, technology, and popular culture, along with a lot of classic science fiction, pre-1920 British poetry, maritime history, mysteries & thrillers. There are also clumps of books about language, mass media, constitutional law, baseball, archaeology, yacht racing, and Antarctic exploration, among other things.

My catalog includes all the books I've read from 2004 to the present (tagged "read in 20XX") and some of those I read in in 2003 and earlier. The books I read pre-2004 are tagged with "read in ________" tags that indicate (approximately) when. The older the category, the less complete the coverage.

My collections are of the "what it says on the can" variety, with two (possible) exceptions:

Weeded books are ones I found interesting enough to own once, got rid of without reading them, but (because of that initial interest) still feel a connection to.

Sale & Swap books are ones I currently have posted for sale on Amazon Marketplace or available for trade on BookMooch or PaperbackSwap; they're in my possession, but don't feel like part of "My Library."

I also maintain an entirely separate LT account (user ID: Silverheels) as a sort of secondary wishlist -- a way to keep track of books that I'm not immediately interested in reading or buying, but want to remember are out there.

Over mij

After 22 years as a history professor, I'm now 9 years and counting into one of those second acts that F. Scott Fitzgerald said don't exist in American life. I work for the Martha's Vineyard Museum, as reference librarian, pinch-hitting archivist, journal editor, in-house historian, and one-person Department of Interpretation. Born and raised in southern New England, I'm back there after -- living in my childhood (summer) home -- after 27 years spent in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and South: an unreconstructed Yankee who loves the sea, the snow, bay scallops, and good clam chowder. For the demographically curious, I . . . was born in 1963, am the son of a teacher and a social worker, am 6' 3" tall, am left-handed, attended public schools, have a PhD (University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1990) drive an aging Subaru Outback, sail a vintage 21-foot racing sloop, and have owned seven Macintosh computers since 1987.

Woonplaats

Vineyard Haven, MA

Lidmaatschappen

LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Ook op

Amazon, BookCrossing, BookMooch, Facebook, Goodreads, PaperBackSwap, Take11, Wikipedia

Momenteel aan het lezen

Monsarrat at Sea door Nicholas Monsarrat

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation door Steven Johnson

Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation door Alan Gurney

The Outpost door Mike Resnick

Favoriete auteurs

David McCullough, John McPhee, Robert B. Parker, Mike Resnick, Spider Robinson

Lokale favorieten

Boekwinkels: Avol's Bookstore, Bookmiser - Marietta, Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Once & Again Books - East Cobb, The Book Den East, The Book Nook (Marietta)

Bibliotheken: British Museum - Central Library, Brown University - John Hay Library, Martha's Vineyard Museum Research Library, University of Wisconsin - Madison - C.K. Leith Library of Geology & Geophysics, Vineyard Haven Public Library, Wellesley Free Library - Fells Branch, Wisconsin Historical Society - Library and Archives

Leden connecties

Vrienden

elenchus, JeremyCShipp, randyattwood, Smethers, the_defenestrator, theoldman

Interessante bibliotheek

antiquary, AsYouKnow_Bob, capnbob, geohistnut, JNSelko, melannen, MilitaryAviationML, NievesK, Polymath35, Shrike58, southernbooklady