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.

Traitors of Rome

Posted on August 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

Traitors of Rome© 2019 Simon Scarrow351 pages Young Tribune Cato and his grizzled enlisted mentor Macro have come a long way together, from the dismal bogs of Britannia to the even more dismal desert wastes of the eastern border. Across … Continue reading →

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

Unsubscribing from romantic-comedy dreams

Posted on August 26, 2021 by smellincoffee

Within the last month I’ve read two somewhat related titles: No More Mr. Nice Guy and The Unplugged Alpha, both mens-interest books but with different tones.  No More Mr. Nice Guy is written by a psychologist who treats men trapped … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Soviets…..in Space

Posted on August 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

Soviets in Space: The People of the USSR and the Race to the Moon© 2021 Colin Turbett232 pages In 1959, Soviet Russia shocked the world, and especially its rival the United States, by launching an artificial satellite into orbit. Sputnik-I’s … Continue reading →

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

The Lost Outlaw

Posted on August 22, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Lost Outlaw © 2019 Paul Fraser Collard361 pages For the better part of a year, Jack Lark has been drifting across the war-worn South, working small jobs as he needs and generally avoiding society. For most of his adult … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Of Chemie, Cosmos, and Climate

Posted on August 20, 2021 by smellincoffee

What’s Eating the Cosmos tackles some of the big questions in modern cosmology, beginning with the basics — how do we know what’s out there? Where is it, what is it made of? — and continuing onward to the more changing … Continue reading →

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I have found the Most Interesting Thing On YouTube

Posted on August 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Imagine listening to a book which has strengthened minds for centuries — Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations — not as a dry narrative, but as a performance, a motivational mixtape with impassioned delivery, with a beat. I encountered “Self Control”, taken from … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 1 Comment

Attack Surface

Posted on August 14, 2021 by smellincoffee

Attack Surface© 2020 Cory Doctorow385 pages When the Bay Bridge blew up, Masha wanted to catch the guys that did it. That desire for justice and revenge brought her to employment with the Department of Homeland Security, and still later … Continue reading →

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

Back to Earth

Posted on August 13, 2021 by smellincoffee

Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet and our Mission to Protect It© 2021 Nicola Stott304 pages A staple of astronaut memoirs is the attempt to communicate the near-religious experience of seeing the Earth … Continue reading →

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There Is No Cloud

Posted on August 12, 2021 by smellincoffee

There Is No Cloud© 2021 Kat Wheeler189 pages Okay, Google,  I’d like to set up a Routine. When I am murdered alone in my office, please call the police, unlock the door, and turn off the coffee pot.   Matt Rodriguez … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

More evil than I thought

Posted on August 12, 2021 by smellincoffee

I’ve personally never been able to retain bookmarks, even the fancy ones friends have sent me from faraway places like South Korea.

Posted in General | Tagged , | 4 Comments