Author Archives: smellincoffee

Unknown's avatar

About smellincoffee

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

Top Ten Books I’d Like to Re-Read

Today’s topic makes me sigh a bit on the inside,because one of my intended themes for 2025 was “The Great Re-Read”, in which I’d re-read a few books that played substantial parts in changing my thinking 10-15 years ago. So … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Sean Bean, King Arthur, and Twelve Other Angry Men

Over the weekend I listened to two audiobooks: Sean Bean reading King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, an edition collected by Benedict Flynn; and an ensemble cast performing the original teleplay of Twelve Angry Men, the classic … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Stephen Fry Reads Harry Potter

One of my favorite audiobook narrators is Stephen Fry, whose version of the Harry Potter series is one I’ve heard about from the very first time I tried a Harry Potter novel back in August 2007. (Interestingly, Jim Dale’s Harry … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The changing look of “reference”.

Today while looking through library photos in hopes of finding shots that would make it possible for me to find where we buried a time capsule in 1995, I saw one that begged for a “Then and Now” type framing. … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged | 2 Comments

WWW Wednesday

WHAT have you finished reading recently? Uncharted, a history of the 2024 campaign; and kinda sorta Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I listened to most of the audiobook read by Stephen Fry, finished it in print, and am continuing … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Teasin’ Tuesday and June 2025 in Review

Gloriosky, is it July already? June is gone, and with it, half of 2025. Today I’m going to combine my monthly wrap-up with Tuesday meming — first the tease, then the top ten! Teaser Tuesday The strongest version of a … Continue reading

Posted in General, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Moviewatch: June 2025

I’m reasonably sure I won’t be watching a movie tonight, so here’s this month’s movie list! Edit: I watched a movie, but you’ll have to wait an entire month to find out which one. She’s All That, 1999. Another movie … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged | 2 Comments

Saturday Shorts: The Hammer of God

TIME magazine, unlike many other older magazines, never had a tradition of publishing short fiction — until golden age of SF author Arthur C. Clarke offered to change that. “The Hammer of God” takes us a century into the future, … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Short rounds: giant radioactive catfish and Congressional ballgames

It’s been a quiet week for reviews, largely because I’m nibbling on several books at once instead of committing to anything. Chernobyl’s Wild Kingdom is, as I discovered upon laying eyes on it at the post office, a junior-level science … Continue reading

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

WWW Wednesday

Today’s prompt from Long & Short Reviews is: do we follow celebrity gossip? I do follow a few celebrities on instagram, but they’re mostly musicians and their shared media is largely music clips — with the exception of Morgan Wade’s … Continue reading

Posted in General | Tagged , | 9 Comments