Author Archives: smellincoffee

About smellincoffee

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

Gun Guys

Posted on October 22, 2019

Gun Guys: A Road Trip © 2013 Dan Baum 353 pages     Why do Americans love guns so much?  Dan Baum knew why he loved them. He was the skinny misfit who was mocked and left behind at summer … Continue reading →

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Agatha Christie and Tony Soprano

Posted on October 21, 2019

Over the weekend I finished two titles that don’t bear elaborate reviews. First up was Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party,  a murder mystery set during this spooky-fun season.  Not everyone is having fun, though, especially not little Joyce, who – – … Continue reading →

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American Rifle

Posted on October 18, 2019

American Rifle: A Biography © 2008 Alexander Rose 512 pages The quintessential American firearm is the rifle,   which through centuries of colonization and growth,  has served in both myth and fact.  I use myth not in the modern disparaging sense, … Continue reading →

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The Hidden Life of Trees

Posted on October 17, 2019

The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World © 2016 Peter Wohlleben 288 pages Joyce Kilmer offered that he had never seen a poem as lovely as a tree —  and I … Continue reading →

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The Ice at the End of the World

Posted on October 16, 2019

© 2019  Jon Gertner 418 pages My reading journeys have taken me to Greenland recently, but instead of reading more about the Viking settlements there,  I wanted to read about another tribe:   the explorers and scientists who willingly endured months … Continue reading →

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IRL

Posted on October 15, 2019

© 2014 Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang 192 pages I happened to see Cory Doctorow’s name on the cover of this graphic novel, and had to take a look.  The plot is heavily based on a short story of Doctorow’s, … Continue reading →

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Needful Things

Posted on October 13, 2019

Needful Things © 1992 Stephen King 940 pages A new shop has come to Castle Rock, one with a curious name: NEEDFUL THINGS. Its wares appear to run the gamut from cheap antiques to one-of-a-kind oddities. Even in a small … Continue reading →

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