Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

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

Top Ten Books Set in the Snow

Posted on December 9, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is “books set in snowy places”. Well, that rules out anything in Alabama! But first, a couple of Tuesday Teases from The Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson. “Soon after dawn on February 16, Buckner sent a … Continue reading →

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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Posted on December 8, 2025 by smellincoffee

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opens with one of my favorite lines from Lewis’s fiction, and repeats that achievement toward its close. “There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” Said lad is the … Continue reading →

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A Fine, Quiet Sunday Morning in December….

Posted on December 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s annual remembrance of the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor has an especially salient echo given that it’s a Sunday. I am reminded of Captain Billy Mitchell’s interwar warning, quoted in The Airman’s War by Albert Marrin. By chance, I … Continue reading →

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Man of Iron

Posted on December 4, 2025 by smellincoffee

Grover Cleveland may have lost his claim to fame in being the only president to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms, but he is nevertheless a striking and memorable figure. Hailed as ‘the last Jeffersonian’  by another biography,  his two … Continue reading →

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The Book of Common Prayer

Posted on December 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

The Book of Common Prayer is the heart of the Anglican communion, and for my money contains some of English’s best phrasing outside Shakespeare and the Bible. Since 2011, its liturgy has been part of my life, its phrases embedded … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday & Earliest Memories

Posted on December 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, what is your earliest memory? More on that story in a few minutes! First, let’s check in with…. WWW Wednesday WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Book of Common Prayer by … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite December Reads

Posted on December 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

Teaser Tuesday (Man of Iron) If the story of Mayor Cleveland’s inaugural message to the city council had to be summarized with one fact it would be this: it so outraged his adversaries that midway through its reading there was … Continue reading →

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Of Shasta & Caspian

Posted on December 1, 2025 by smellincoffee

This past week I have been taking care of animals a county away, and have had plenty of time to make further progress on my Chronicles of Narnia audiobook experience. I am listening to the Audible versions, not the full-cast … Continue reading →

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Moviewatch, November 2025

Posted on December 1, 2025 by smellincoffee

I began the month with intentions of focusing on SF, but….well. Things got weird. Well, to be honest, they started with Xanadu so they BEGAN weird, but you’ll see. NOVEMBER Xanadu, 1980. XANADU! *clap-clap-clap* XANADU!  *clap-clap-clap* XANADU!    Some dude … Continue reading →

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November 2025 in Review

Posted on November 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

Welcome to Advent! While today is only the last day of November, it does close the liturgical year’s longest season — Pentecost, or “Ordinary Time” — and begin the story of good news again. This morning, my Adult Formation class … Continue reading →

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