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.

Return from the Rio Grande

Posted on October 2, 2016 by smellincoffee

People of the Blogosphere, I HAVE RETURNED! Last Saturday I boarded a plane and put into motion which was months in the making. Back in May, I decided to take a vacation to the Southwest, and by the first week … Continue reading →

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Los Alamos

Posted on September 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Los Alamos© 1997 Joseph Kanon416 pages A man lies dead in Santa Fe, but the answer to ‘whodunit’ lies in the hills above the city — or on The Hill, the site of the Los Alamos Laboratory, where something very … Continue reading →

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

The Pawnbroker

Posted on September 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Pawnbroker© 2014 David Thurlo, Aimée Thurlo304 pages Charlie and Gordo are two Afghan War vets returning to civilian life, but as it turns out, parts of Albuquerque aren’t that much safer than Kabul. When their friend and attorney is gravely … Continue reading →

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Fire on the Mountain

Posted on September 26, 2016 by smellincoffee

Fire on the Mountain© 1961 Edward Abbey211 pages Beneath the shadow of Thieves’ Mountain, Billy Starr has arrived to spend a summer with his grandfather. He has arrived in the middle of a six-month siege, however, one of increasing intensity. … Continue reading →

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Loose Ends

Posted on September 25, 2016 by smellincoffee

Roswell: Loose Ends© 2001 Greg Cox288 pages The last person Liz expected to bump into in the depths of Carlsbad Caverns was the man who nearly killed her — would have killed her, had her lab-buddy/secret admirer not been nearby … Continue reading →

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Send More Idiots

Posted on September 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Send More Idiots© 2014  Tony Perez-Giese324 pages “What do you think of El Paso?” “It’s an armpit.” “I live here, and I don’t even take offense to that.” Jon Lennox’ kid brother just disappeared in Mexico. He didn’t run off  with a … Continue reading →

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This Week….in the Land of Enchantment

Posted on September 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

Tomorrow morning, dear readers, I will wake up dark and early and scurry to an airport,   off to spend a week in New Mexico.  In the words of Bilbo Baggins, I am GOING ON AN ADVENTURE!  I have never flown … Continue reading →

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Deke!

Posted on September 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

Deke! U.S. Manned Space Flight from Mercury to the Shuttle© 1994 Deke Slayton and Michael Cassutt352 pages Don Slayton knew he wanted to fly as a kid, but he never imagined going as high as the moon  His story is … Continue reading →

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Hillbilly Elegy

Posted on September 22, 2016 by smellincoffee

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis© 2016 J.D. Vance272 pages Imagine a childhood in which the most stable person in your life once methodically marinated her passed-out drunken husband with lighter fluid, then set him … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

America First

Posted on September 21, 2016 by smellincoffee

America First: Its History, Culture, and Politics© 1995 Bill Kauffman296 pages For slightly over a year prior to the attack at Pearl Harbor, there existed a civic organization of nearly a million people called the America First Committee. It dedicated … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments