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.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

Posted on September 7, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History© 2004 Thomas E. Woods290 pages I don’t remember when I first began to break from believing the Standard View of American history, the view promoted in the textbooks paid for by the State … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Persuasion

Posted on September 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

Persuasion© 1817 Jane Austen249 pages Persuasion is the story of a young couple broken apart by the young woman (Anne’s) family convincing her that her beau doesn’t have enough money or social standing to be a good match for her. … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Marine Combat Correspondent

Posted on September 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

Marine Combat Correspondent: World War 2 in the Pacific© 1999 Sam Stavisky344 pages Sam Stavisky was a reporter for the Washington Post on December 7th, 1941, when he and the world bore witness to Japan’s bloody ambition to rule the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

August 2022 in Review

Posted on August 31, 2022 by smellincoffee

It’s…er, been a while since I did a monthly update. Science Survey Doing well! The science survey for 22 is completed,  with sixteen titles fulfilling my twelve categories. I’d like to finish the year with at least 20 science titles, … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Is This Wi-Fi Organic?

Posted on August 29, 2022 by smellincoffee

Is This Wi-Fi Organic? A Guide to Spotting Misleading Science Online © 2021 Dave Farina254 pages In The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan warned readers: “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology in which hardly anyone knows … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The Hacking of the American Mind

Posted on August 26, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains © 2017 Robert Lustig352 pages Robert Lustig is an endocrinologist who gained public recognition when he delivered a lecture entitled “Sugar: the Bitter … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ten Years of the Classics Club

Posted on August 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Classics Club recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and posed some questions to its readers. I began participating in 2015, wrapping up my first list in 2020 and starting a new one weeks later. My original plan with the Classics … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Book meme remix liberated from CK

Posted on August 17, 2022 by smellincoffee

Cyberkitten recently posted a couple of book memes, and I’m borrowing questions from both. What’s the first book you remember reading? The earliest reading memory I have is a Sesame Street title involving Bert, Ernie, and some monster in the … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 3 Comments

Of Babylonians, demons, and bankers

Posted on August 16, 2022 by smellincoffee

Continuing in the Big Book Catchup… Paul Kriwaczek’s Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization covers Mesopotamian history from the establishment of Eridu to the rise of the  first Persian empire.  This is a survey of thousands of years of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fighting for Space

Posted on August 11, 2022 by smellincoffee

Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight© 2020 Amy Shira Teitel448 pages When the age of flight arrived,   women were as eager to take to the skies as men.  Fighting for Space is a … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments