Author Archives: smellincoffee

About smellincoffee

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

Log Cabin Pioneers

Posted on May 18, 2023 by smellincoffee

Log Cabin Pioneers: Stories, Songs, and Sayings© 2001 Wayne Erbson184 pages Few things are more evocative of the American frontier than a log cabin. This isn’t a new thing, either: log cabins entered American iconography as early as the 1840s, … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bing Reccommends me Books

Posted on May 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

I made Bing consider all of my reviews from 2007 forward and then asked it to recommend me some books. This took some doing, because it kept giving me lists that were mostly books I’ve already read,, but after repeated … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 3 Comments

Tales from the Deadball Era

Posted on May 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tales from the Deadball Era: Ty Cobb, Home Run Baker, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and the Wildest Times in Baseball History© 2014 Mark S. Halfon, narrated by Michael Butler Murray 240 pages | Audible 8 hrs 4 minutes George Carlin once … Continue reading →

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Teesday Tuese & TT

Posted on May 16, 2023 by smellincoffee

Common exercises were foot racing, wrestling, boxing, leapfrog, hopscotch, quoits, and marbles. Some Rebs played tenpins after a fashion ironically unique, by rolling cannon balls at the pins, or at holes in the ground. The Life of Johnny Reb: The … Continue reading →

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Best of the Science Survey, 2017 – 2022

Posted on May 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

I recently realized that I’m in my sixth year of doing the Science Survey, and am marking the ocassion by thinking about the ten best reads of that period. For the uninitiated, the Science Survey is an attempt to structure … Continue reading →

Posted in General, science | Tagged | 3 Comments

Breaking Bad & Bama Baseball

Posted on May 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

If you’re an obsessive fan of Breaking Bad — and is any fan of Breaking Bad not an obsessive one? — this little book is a quick treat, consisting of summaries with commentary of each respective season, along with character … Continue reading →

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The War as the South Saw It

Posted on May 10, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Confederate Reader: The War as the South Saw It© 1999 Richard B. Harwell416 pages Mention ‘The War’ in the South without any context, and most anyone will understand which one  you’re referring to – the only War that has … Continue reading →

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Our Man In Charleston

Posted on May 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

Our Man in Charleston© 2016 Christopher Dickey416 pages Our Man in Charleston is a fascinating history of British diplomacy in the South, 1850s-1865, about a British consul working to defend Her Majesty’s interests in the erstwhile colonies, focusing specifically on … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tuesday & Teaser

Posted on May 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the Artsy Reader Girl, is “Top Ten Books You Recommend the Most”. But first, a Tuesday Tease! In his informal report to the President, Tom Ochiltree, aide to General Sibley, called accurately the losses … Continue reading →

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Brittannorum

Posted on May 8, 2023 by smellincoffee

A ferventi aestuosa Libya Volat Aquila LegionumSupra Terra BrittannorumVolat Aquila LegionumRoma, Roma, O RomaLegio! Aeterna! Aeterna! Victrix! Winter is coming, both for Britain and for the Druids. Rome, drawn to Britain because of its tribes’ support of their Gallic brothers … Continue reading →

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