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 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

The Kaiju Preservation Society

Posted on August 9, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Kaiju Preservation Society© 2021 John Scalzi268 pages I don’t know what a kaiju is, but John Scalzi’s name is on the cover so, I’m sold. At least, that’s…what I thought. Turns out John Scalzi isn’t always at his John … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Recalled to life

Posted on August 8, 2022 by smellincoffee

Er. hi. Been a while. Today marks my partial return to work, as I’ve been readjusting to life the last few weeks. I’ve been reading steadily, but have not been home (lots of housesitting), and typing reviews on my laptop … Continue reading →

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My Brother’s Keeper: Republic

Posted on July 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

Star Trek My Brothers Keeper: Republic(C) 1999 Michael Jan Friedman267 pages The events of “Where No Man Has Gone Before” forced Jim Kirk to make the brutal decision to kill his best friend Gary Mitchell, after Mitchell had been altered … Continue reading →

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Handprints on Hubble

Posted on July 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Handprints on Hubble(c) 2019 Kathryn D. Sullivan304 pages Handprints on Hubble is a unique astronaut memoir, in part because Dr. Sullivan is a scientist first and an astronaut second. Longing to explore, she began her academic life in oceanography before realizing … Continue reading →

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

The Apollo Murders

Posted on July 15, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Apollo Murders(c) 2021 Chris Hadfield 480 pages It’s 1973, and the Apollo program is nearly at its end. One more mission is planned — but it won’t be the mission executed. Instead, the all-military crew of Apollo 18 will … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 3 Comments