Author Archives: smellincoffee

About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

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 , , | 6 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 →

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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

Righteous in their time

Posted on March 16, 2022 by smellincoffee

We live in a time when it has become politically correct to destroy statues of such historic figures as Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Christopher Columbus, Andrew Jackson, and others. A lesson about such statue-tory destruction can be learned by comparing the … Continue reading →

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Gone with the Wind

Posted on March 15, 2022 by smellincoffee

Gone with the Wind© 1936 Margaret Mitchell1037 pages It’s been nearly twenty years since I visited the joined worlds of antebellum Tara and postwar Atlanta, tied together through the life of a ruined plantation belle turned business magnate, Scarlett O’Hara. … Continue reading →

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

Man against the mob

Posted on March 14, 2022 by smellincoffee

“The problem with going along [with the mob] is that it demoralizes you. It makes you a smaller person, inside. You’ll know you shouldn’t have done that, you’ll think badly of yourself for having done it, you’ll feel cowardly, and … Continue reading →

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