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.

Churchill’s Shadow Raiders

Posted on April 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Churchill’s Shadow Raiders: The Race to Develop Radar, World War II’s Invisible Secret Weapon© 2020 Damien Lewis 416 pages A decade ago, in reading Electric Universe, I was delighted to learn about Operation BITING, one of World War 2’s more extraordinary … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Bringing the dead to life

Posted on April 17, 2022 by smellincoffee

Just a cool thing I saw earlier today. The modern stills have some AI-induced movement, so viewers can see Henry VIII’s jowls tremor as he eyes yet another woman he can marry after beheading or killing her predecessor.

Posted in General | Tagged | 3 Comments

Churchill’s Band of Brothers

Posted on April 14, 2022 by smellincoffee

Band of Brothers: WW2’s Most Daring D-Day Mission and the Hunt to Take Down Hitler’s War Criminals© 2021 Damien Lewis400 pages A few months back, I read D-Day Girls, a history of SOE operatives who prepared the way for Operation … Continue reading →

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

Sharpe’s Devil

Posted on April 10, 2022 by smellincoffee

Sharpe’s Devil: Chile, 1820© 1992 Bernard Cornwell280 pages Twelve years ago, Cyberkitten introduced me to Richard Sharpe, and for the next two years I happily followed him through India, Iberia, and France. These days I am forced to look for … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Lionheart

Posted on April 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

Lionheart© 2020 Ben Kane400 pages A noble son of Ireland is transported to England as a hostage to secure his father’s loyalty, and the adventure of a lifetime begins. Abused and ill-treated by the petty lords who are given custody … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins

Posted on April 4, 2022 by smellincoffee

Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins: A Trip through the World of Animal Intoxication© 2021 One R. Pagan320 pages Drunk Flies and Stoned Dolphins promises readers amusing stories of animal intoxication, but delivers instead a serious but enjoyable look at animal … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

March 2022 in review

Posted on April 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

March started strong and abruptly crashed, as I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump the last week — dragging through two e-books, making steady progress on Cancer Ward, and distracting myself by working in the garden or enjoying … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Irreversible Damage

Posted on March 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters© 2020 Abigail Shrier276 pages To the degree that gender dysphoria existed prior to 2015, it was almost wholly the domain of young boys.  In the last ten years, however, claims of dysphoria … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR

Posted on March 22, 2022 by smellincoffee

I missed last’s week TT theme on spring tbrs, so instead of following the prompt for today (titles with adjectives), I’m going to be sharing some upcoming books!  Cancer Ward, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. An entry for my Classics Club Strikes Back … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 15 Comments

Worth Reading: “The Turn”

Posted on March 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

Liel Leibovitz writes on no longer being able to go with the flow, and more importantly — on realizing the American left is no longer recognizable as a voice for the people. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/the-turn-liel-leibovitz Quotes: “You might be living through The … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations | Tagged , | 4 Comments