Author Archives: smellincoffee

About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

Ready Player Two: Spoiler Free

Posted on November 26, 2020

Ready Player Two© Ernest Cline384 pages Ready Player One remains one of my favorite novels, ever; for me it is the Starburst jellybean of books, a perfect sweet spot between geekery and pop culture. I couldn’t wait to get my … Continue reading →

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Too Much Magic: Same arguments, different cover

Posted on November 25, 2020

Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation© 2012 Jim Kunstler336 pages Twelve years ago, at the urging of my sociology professor, I attended a lecture on Peak Oil and the Future of Suburbia, by a … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tuesday: Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2020

This week’s TTT has a Thanksgiving theme, and it’s a freebie so we can play around with it. I’m going full-throttle stream of thought here. I’m thankful for bookish friends who aid and abet my addiction, but more importantly, who … Continue reading →

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Selections from “A Grief Observed”

Posted on November 21, 2020

A Grief Observed was not written as a book, but was published as such from four reflective notebooks that Lewis kept while reeling from the death of his wife, Joy. The collection is raw, intimate, and personal; we find Lewis … Continue reading →

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The Afghan Campaign

Posted on November 20, 2020

The Afghan Campaign: A Novel© 2006 Steven Pressfield 368 pages Afghanistan, 330 B.C. Alexander the Great, having toppled the Persian Empire and won eternal glory for himself and his men, now looks with hungry eyes to India. The way to … Continue reading →

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V-2

Posted on November 19, 2020

V-2: A Novel of World War 2 © 2020 Robert Harris320 pages The Wehrmacht is being pushed from western Europe, and the Waffen-SS is reeling in eastern Europe. The Luftwaffe flies no more. And yet Germany fights on, and the … Continue reading →

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Is Reality Optional?

Posted on November 17, 2020

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” – F.A. Hayek From economist and cultural critic Thomas Sowell come this amusingly-titled collection of essays,  loosely gathered … Continue reading →

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Mary Roach in bed, Frank Underwood’s crib notes, and a love story for libraries

Posted on November 13, 2020

It’s been a week of …very different books here. First up, Mary Roach’s Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. All of Roach’s previous other works, all mostly-humorous attempts to review the science of taboo or often overlooked subject, … Continue reading →

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Firefly: Generations

Posted on November 10, 2020

Firefly: Generations© 2020 Tim Lebbon384 pages A map won in a card game, given importance by River’s intuition, Kaylee’s recognition of an old name, and the fact that several people tried to murder Mal to take the map back, leads … Continue reading →

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Whole Earth Disicpline

Posted on November 8, 2020

Whole Earth Disicpline: An Ecopragmatist Approach © 2010 Stewart Brand344 pages Sustainability is context, not a gadget or a single technology. From Stewart Brand, a lifelong environmentalist and creator-editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, comes this fascinating argument that the … Continue reading →

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