Joedb, the Journal-Only Embedded Database

Was going to say that I hope Joe doesn't end up going to prison for an unspeakable crime, but then I saw it was an acronym.

An approach very close to one I've been thinking about lately.

My three cents: compact the journal when its size exceeds the actual data size. With thresholds or other knobs; with the point being the initial load time should be directly proportional to the amount of actual data. Everything else/older is a backup.