Monthly Archives: February 2014

Excerpts from "A Place on Earth"

Posted on February 27, 2014 by smellincoffee

From Wendell Berry’s A Place on Earth,  the story of a great flood and a terrible war. In the preacher’s words the Heavenly City has risen up, surmounting their lives, the house, the town — the final hope, in which … Continue reading →

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Look Away!

Posted on February 26, 2014 by smellincoffee

Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America© 2003 William C. Davis496 pages While most Civil War histories concentrate on military campaigns, Look Away! chronicles the history of the Confederacy from a political and social perspective. Its attempt … Continue reading →

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What’s Wrong with the World

Posted on February 20, 2014 by smellincoffee

What’s Wrong with the World© 1910 G. K. Chesterton200 pages What’s wrong with the world? Too many people are proposing answers to the wrong questions.  What’s Wrong is a curious collection of thoughts, voiced at the turn of the 20thcentury, … Continue reading →

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The Gift of Good Land

Posted on February 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Gift of Good Land© 1981 Wendell Berry281 pages Wendell Berry is a philosopher, poet, and more, but before all else he is a farmer. He is a faithful son of Kentucky devoted to the land, to the stewardship of … Continue reading →

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The Martian

Posted on February 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Martian© 2013 Andy Weir369 pages I was elated!  This was the best plan ever! Not only was I clearing out the hydrogen, I was making more water!  Everything went great right up to the explosion.  p. 43 Mark Watney never thought … Continue reading →

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Forgotten Voices of the Great War

Posted on February 15, 2014 by smellincoffee

Forgotten Voices of the Great War© 2004 ed. Max Author336 pages                         Forgotten Voices of the Great War is a chronicle of the first great war,  a story told not by one author but many. Interviews and written recollections from … Continue reading →

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From Chunk to Hunk

Posted on February 14, 2014 by smellincoffee

From Chunk to Hunk: Diary of a Fat Man© 2003 Fred Anderson242 pages Fred Anderson had an epiphany while munching on snack cakes and watching TV; as he witnessed the amputation of a diabetic man’s leg, he realized: this is … Continue reading →

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And Then There Were Nuns

Posted on February 13, 2014 by smellincoffee

And Then There Were Nuns: Adventures in a Cloistered Life© 2013 Jane Christmas292 pages When Jane Christmas’ boyfriend proposed to her, she gave him the most obvious reply: she said she wanted to join a nunnery.  It wasn’t that he … Continue reading →

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An Excerpt

Posted on February 12, 2014 by smellincoffee

“But then that’s the problem, isn’t it? We get older, we get no wiser, the wars of FDR and Truman turn into the wars of Kennedy and Nixon, the Gulf War of Bush I reappears as the Gulf War of … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: desire, war, and traditions

Posted on February 10, 2014 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: It’s been a slow start for February despite the miserable weather that keeps everyone indoors, possibly because I’ve spent the last week nursing a cold and it’s easier to watch movies than to coordinate book-holding, page-turning, and nose-tending … Continue reading →

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