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.

Ancestral Shadows

Posted on October 5, 2017 by smellincoffee

Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales© 2004 ISI Distributed TitlesStories written by Russell Kirk 1950s and produced first in various magazines410 pages “Ghost stories” invariably makes me think of legends and folklore,  but Ancestral Shadows is an altogether different … Continue reading →

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Dracula

Posted on October 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Dracula© 1897 Bram Stoker416 pages Every attorney has problematic clients,  but few can claim an actual monster. Such is the case with Count Dracula, as  young lawyer Jonathan Hawker discovers to his dismay and horror when he arrives at the … Continue reading →

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Eleven Trucking Songs

Posted on October 1, 2017 by smellincoffee

Inspired by A Thousand Miles from Nowhere, which  alternated between writing about driving big trucks and listening to country music….here are eleven country songs about driving trucks!  There are more out there,  but I’ve collected these over the years. The ones … Continue reading →

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A Thousand Miles from Nowhere

Posted on October 1, 2017 by smellincoffee

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere© 1995 Graham Coster275 pages Great literature has been produced from travelers’ tales, from those who walked or rode trains or even drove — but none from a truck, says Graham Coster. In the hopes of … Continue reading →

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Oktoberfest or Oktoberfright?

Posted on October 1, 2017 by smellincoffee

Regensburg,  Bavaria Well, dear readers, September was a fairly horrific month between the hurricanes and earthquakes and threats of nuclear war, so I hope October is calmer.   I usually read a piece of fiction or history associated with Germany at … Continue reading →

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Wild Swans

Posted on September 28, 2017 by smellincoffee

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China© 1991 Chang Jung525 pages (My edition uses Chang’s family name first, following the Chinese custom.) Read the records of the 20th century totalitarian states, and the number of lives destroyed numbs the brain. Eleven … Continue reading →

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Classics Club, Year III

Posted on September 26, 2017 by smellincoffee

Two years have passed since I declared I was taking the Classics Club challenge, and posted my own list of fifty classics to read.  I’ve since read 20 classics, which means I am on schedule — just. Most of that … Continue reading →

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Spock Thoughts | Desiderata

Posted on September 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

Although I do not consume The News — that is, the constantly changing, buzzing noise of whatever it is people are excited about for the present day and a half, soon to be abruptly replaced by something else —  occasionally … Continue reading →

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Of China and Narnia

Posted on September 21, 2017 by smellincoffee

Late last week I finished China Wakes, the account of two  married American journalists in China during the 1980s and early 1990s.  They found China frustratingly difficult to judge; as much promise as its economic liberalization showed,  the political and … Continue reading →

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A Burglar’s Guide to the City

Posted on September 18, 2017 by smellincoffee

A Burglar’s Guide to the City© 2016 Geoff Manaugh304 pages There’s really no resisting a title like that, is there?  Mind, it’s not accurate;  this isn’t a guide to how burglars read architecture, a catalog of vulnerabilities that homeowners and … Continue reading →

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