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 Burning Blue

Posted on July 14, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA’s Challenger Disaster(c) 2021 Kevin Cook288 pages So fickle is the human mind that even Apollo could not keep the public terribly excited for very long after the first moon … Continue reading →

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

Hail, Columbia!

Posted on July 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

In reading Bringing Columbia Home, the author referred to several videos — a surviving bit of cockpit footage, eleven minutes prior to the disaster, as well as a tribute video created during the recovery period. “There’s heavy grief in our … Continue reading →

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Bringing Columbia Home

Posted on July 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Shuttle and Her Crew(c) 2018 Michael Leinbach and Johnthan Ward400 pages On February 1st, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies above Texas and Louisiana, some sixteen minutes from … Continue reading →

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Midyear Book Freakout

Posted on July 11, 2022 by smellincoffee

Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag 2022 Yoinked from Cyberkitten Best book you’ve read so far in 2022 How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, Donald Robertson Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022Crusader, Ben Kane. It followed Richard the Lionheart … Continue reading →

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Space Camp 2022

Posted on July 9, 2022 by smellincoffee

Last year, in observance of the anniversary of Apollo 11’s successful lunar landing on July 20, 1969, I planned for a week of space-exploration reading. I may have gotten a little carried away and kept reading astronaut books until the … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 4 Comments

Of Darwin, dinosaurs, and Denisovians

Posted on July 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

I expect to leave the recovery-suite of the hotel at the end of this week and eturn home, though I’ll be returning to Birmingham every two weeks for checkups for the next few months. During this multiweek siesta, I’ve mostly … Continue reading →

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

Letters to an American Lady

Posted on July 5, 2022 by smellincoffee

Letters to an American Lady(c) 1967 C.S. Lewis, ed. Walter Hooper150 pages I was pleased recently to discover that Letters to an American Lady, a collection of letters from C.S. Lewis written to an anonymous southern woman in the 1950s … Continue reading →

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Joy Davidman on infirmity and humility

Posted on July 5, 2022 by smellincoffee

Once I would have pitched in and helped my housekeeper—but now, because I have to walk with a stick and have only one hand free, I’m more nuisance than help and can only sit on the sidelines and give advice … Continue reading →

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Two for forensics

Posted on June 30, 2022 by smellincoffee

Readers of Sherlock Holmes may remember that fictional character had such a command of diverse sciences and skills that his assistant Watson was impelled to innumerate them. American Sherlock introduces readers to the life of Edward Oscar Heinrich, a real-life … Continue reading →

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Bonaparte’s Invaders

Posted on June 29, 2022 by smellincoffee

Bonaparte’s Invaders(c) 1998 Richard Howard320 pages It is the year 1799, and Napoleon Bonaparte’s triumphant army, having recently earned the Corsican glory and loot in Italy, has now boarded a fleet of ships and sailed east — destination unknown. Bonaparte … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments