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.

WWW Wednesday +Books I Keep Meaning to Read

Posted on September 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Book Reviews is, “Books I Keep Meaning to Read But Haven’t”. But first, WWW Wednesday. WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Great Deluge, a quasi-history of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of New … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Books with Occupations in the Title

Posted on September 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is books with occupations in the title: I’m going to go back to 2007 and work my way forward, limiting each year to one book. But first, a tease! What they understood at Johnny White’s, however, was what … Continue reading →

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August 2025 in Review + Moviewatch August 2025

Posted on August 31, 2025 by smellincoffee

August ended with a surprisingly abrupt break from the intense heat and humidity that usually mark this period in Alabama: a cold front moved in, and as our air-conditioners suddenly turned off for the first time since May we sat … Continue reading →

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Stars & Stripes Forever

Posted on August 29, 2025 by smellincoffee

The War between the States is nearly a year old, but Abraham Lincoln now has a bigger problem.    Last November, a Navy ship intercepted a British mail packet on suspicion that it was carrying Confederate diplomats bound for Europe; … Continue reading →

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Acts of War

Posted on August 28, 2025 by smellincoffee

The King is dead. God save the Queen! When the RAF accidentally killed Hitler during a night-bombing and Himmler negotiated an armistice, many thought that was the war done. Tough luck for the Poles, but worse things happen at sea, … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on August 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? Operation Underworld, a look into collaboration between the Italian America Mafia and the American government during World War 2. WHAT are you reading now? There is No Place For Us, on the working poor … Continue reading →

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Top Ten of my Most-Watched Youtube Favorites

Posted on August 25, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is a non-bookish freebie, so I’m going to….spotlight YouTube clips I tend to watch and re-watch, excluding purely music videos. But first, the tease! Maranzano had tried to live like Julius Caesar, so Luciano’s board of directors ordered … Continue reading →

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Operation Underworld

Posted on August 25, 2025 by smellincoffee

In New York harbor,  one of the largest and fastest passenger ships ever built lies on its side, a victim of fire. French-built, the United States seized the Normandie after France fell to Hitler and renamed it the Lafayette, intending … Continue reading →

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Havana Nocturne

Posted on August 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

I used to be obsessed with la cosa nostra, but its Cuban ambitions never popped on my radar until I watched The Godfather II. I’ve long been curious about the Mafia’s role in developing Cuba and inadvertently feeding the revolution … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on August 20, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend, Jason Bailey. WHAT are you reading now? Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba, T. J. English WHAT are you reading next? Frequent readers should … Continue reading →

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