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.

Favorite Nonfiction, 2010 – 2019

Posted on February 2, 2020 by smellincoffee

Okay, folks, this one hurt.  It would have been even worse were I aiming for a top ten list!    Interestingly,  history and science don’t fill the list as I expected; instead, books on society are the heavyweights, and many … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 8 Comments

Favorite Fiction, 2010 – 2019

Posted on February 1, 2020 by smellincoffee

I realize the “right” time to do this was in December, when everyone else was doing decade retrospectives,  but it takes a while to pore through ~2000 titles!    These are in rough chronological order.    Horatio Hornblower series, C.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 7 Comments

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

Posted on January 29, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter © 2018 Margaret Magnusson 128 pages Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, for old time is still a-flying. While you’re at it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | 2 Comments

Of love languages, cunning critters, epic battles, and cows

Posted on January 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

Time for some mini-reviews! Read but not reviewed in the last week or so have been: The Heart of the 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? Frans de Waal Shiloh: A … Continue reading →

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

Where the Crawdads Sing

Posted on January 24, 2020 by smellincoffee

Where the Crawdads Sing © 2018 Delia Owens 368 pages ‘There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.’”  – Aldous Leopold, The Sand County Almanac They called her the Marsh Girl. Abandoned in a decaying … Continue reading →

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

Men in Blue

Posted on January 22, 2020 by smellincoffee

Men in Blue (Badge of Honor #1) © 1988 W.E.B. Griffin 356 pages A buxom young reporter meets a fetching police captain at an out of the way diner, hoping for an illicit rendezvous. A half hour into their liaison,  … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Why is Sex Fun?

Posted on January 16, 2020 by smellincoffee

Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality © 1997 Jared Diamond 172 pages Why is Sex Fun is a provocatively titled, slim volume on the evolution of human sexuality. Diamond never addresses the titular question, though,  instead  evaluating … Continue reading →

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

Brains, cotton mills, and vanilla legal thrills

Posted on January 11, 2020 by smellincoffee

January is off to a solid reading start, largely because I’ve developed some ankle woes and my gym/hiking/cycling time has become extra reading time for three weeks running. I’m about to see an orthopedic specialist, though, so here’s hoping I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Losing an Enemy

Posted on January 8, 2020 by smellincoffee

Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy 472 pages © 2017 Trita Parsi Losing an Enemy is now a profoundly depressing book,  being an extensive history of an agreement that could have started erasing fifty years of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments