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.

Teaser Tuesday

Posted on October 14, 2025 by smellincoffee

“The belief in the inevitability of the past — that whatever happened had to happen — is the great enemy of learning from history.” Lars Brownworth, IN DISTANT LANDS

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Dynasty

Posted on October 12, 2025 by smellincoffee

The names Caesar and Augustus have been known to me for as long as I can remember,   from the Bible’s Christmas story to early world history texts with colorful illustrations of the Forum. Despite the long history of Rome,  … Continue reading →

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

WWW Wednesday + Book Series We’ll Never Read

Posted on October 8, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Iron Dream, a satire of pulp fiction that uses the premise that Adolf Hitler left Germany in 1919 and later became a prominent sword-and-sorcery writer during the golden age of pulp fiction. It’s….all … Continue reading →

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The Iron Dream

Posted on October 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

You know how I mentioned October would have a nod to German history, and maybe combine it with horror? …this is not now I expected that to happen. This will surely be my strangest book read for 2025. There I … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Satisfying Series + Teaser

Posted on October 6, 2025 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is “satisfying book series”. But first, a tease… When scolded for not emulating her father’s ostentatious frugality, she only laughed. ‘While he may forget that he is Caesar, I never forget that I am [Augustus] Caesar’s daughter.’ Caesar … Continue reading →

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Merlin’s Tour of the Universe

Posted on October 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for years, though the only thing I knew about it was that it was authored by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium and a public advocate … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The Best of Oct ’24 – Oct ’25’s Teases

Posted on October 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

Three years ago, I started posting Tuesday Teasers after a long period of dormancy — so long, in fact, that the original host of it from 2009 was no longer around. After a year of consistent teases, I shared my … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on September 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Day of Battle, a girthy history of the Anglo-American invasion of Sicily and Italy in World War 2. WHAT are you reading now? Against the Machine, Paul Kingsnorth. I’m also looking through Starry … Continue reading →

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American Orthodox

Posted on September 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

A few months back, I happened to hear one of my favorite Orthodox pieces of music, the Paschal Troparion, put to the tune of an Appalachian folk melody. As it happens, I adore folk music: I spend time actively memorizing … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

September 2025 in Review + Tuesday Tease

Posted on September 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

‘Twenty years ago’, said Mark, toying with his knight, ‘we were fighting to save wilderness from destruction. Now it seems like we’re just fighting to keep ourselves off screens twenty-four hours a day.’ AGAINST THE MACHINE, Paul Kingsnorth September was, … Continue reading →

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