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.

Alone Together

Posted on March 7, 2019 by smellincoffee

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other © 2011 Sherry Turkle 384 pages Alone Together has been on my to-read list since it was released, though it’s taken me years to actually read it.  … Continue reading →

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Johnny Reb’ s War

Posted on March 3, 2019 by smellincoffee

Johnny Reb’s War: Battlefield and Homefrontpub. 2001 David Williams102 pages Johnny Reb’s War is a curious collection of two historical articles by David Williams, the contents of which were later encompassed by his impressively depressing People’s History of the American … Continue reading →

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Of Caesar, Aeneas, and Selma

Posted on March 2, 2019 by smellincoffee

This past week I’ve been dogsitting in the country, and if you’ve never enjoyed a rural sunset with a glass of wine and Chloe Feoranzo playing in the background, it’s an experience I can recommend. While I was away, February … Continue reading →

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Ten of the Most Disturbing Quotes from Alone Together

Posted on March 1, 2019 by smellincoffee

I recently finished Alone Together and wanted to share some quotes from it while I collect my thoughts. It proved more disquieting than I’d anticipated.  Note:  as I am on my Chromebook until tomorrow evening (I’ve been dogsitting) I’m posting these … Continue reading →

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The Gatekeepers

Posted on February 27, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidencypub. 2017, Chris Whipple384 pages True confession: I never paid that much attention to the chief of staff position within the White  House until I started watching The West … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Places in Books I’d Want to Visit

Posted on February 26, 2019 by smellincoffee

This week Top Ten Tuesday is asking us to share places from books we’d like to visit.  Allllllllllllllll aboard! 1. Hogwart’s 2. Al’s Diner with a Portal to 1958, a la 11/22/1968 Obviously this one is immediately on my mind … Continue reading →

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We Did Not Ask for This Room

Posted on February 24, 2019 by smellincoffee

© Stephen King We Did Not Ask For This Room We did not ask for this room,       or this music;       we were invited in.Therefore,because the dark surrounds us,       let us turn our faces toward the light.Let us endure hardship       to … Continue reading →

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Yesterday: Memories of Selma

Posted on February 22, 2019 by smellincoffee

Yesterday: Memories of Selma and her People© 1940 C.C. Grayson 155 pages   (For want of a book cover, I’m including a photograph of Selma’s main street in the early 20th century, after 1891 but before 1926.) In the 1940s, … Continue reading →

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

Rebel Without a Green Card

Posted on February 22, 2019 by smellincoffee

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card288 pages© 2018 Ssara Saedi Sara Saedi and her older sister Samira were both born in Iran, but following the revolution their parents fled to America by way of Italy.  Although Sara had virtually no … Continue reading →

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Overthrow

Posted on February 21, 2019 by smellincoffee

Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Changepub 2006 Stephen Kinzer384 pages The prolonged debacle in the middle east is not, sadly, an exception in modern American foreign policy.  Since the late 19th century,  the powers that be in DC have repeatedly … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments