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.

How I Killed Pluto (And Why It Had it Coming)

Posted on January 1, 2016 by smellincoffee

How I Killed Pluto (and Why It Had it Coming)© 2010 Mike Brown288 pages Is that not the greatest title ever? How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had it Coming is the tale of Pluto’s rise and fall as a … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Best of 2015: Year in Review

Posted on January 1, 2016 by smellincoffee

Previous yearly wrap-ups:2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 Welcome to the 9th annual year in review, in which I highlight the best of the year’s reading, hopefully without producing a column of text that rivals the Bayeux Tapestry. Big year for history, obviously. This … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , | 3 Comments

2015 Cumulative Reading List

Posted on December 31, 2015 by smellincoffee

Whew, what a year.  flags books involved in this year’s Read of England series.   marks books involved in my annual American Revolution series. — January — 1. Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System,  Richard Corfield (Science) 2. The Empty Throne, Bernard Cornwell … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 3 Comments

Finis!

Posted on December 30, 2015 by smellincoffee

Last year, a friend on facebook challenged me to find and read the following, and now…’tis complete! A book with more than 500 pages (Politics on a Human Scale, Jeff Taylor) A classic romance (Emma, Jane Austen) A book that became a movie (The Copperhead, Harold … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 7 Comments

Rogue Lawyer

Posted on December 26, 2015 by smellincoffee

Rogue Lawyer© 2015 John Grisham344 pages (“Wait for 2016”, I said.  What can I say?) Rogue Lawyer ranks with The Appeal as one of John Grisham’s most cynical and bitter pieces of fiction. Its lead character, Sebastian Rudd, is vaguely reminiscent of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Books for Christmas

Posted on December 26, 2015 by smellincoffee

Merry Christmas, one and all!  I trust everyone had a safe and happy holiday.  Christmas was a strange event down here in the South, as temperatures pegged the 80s and we’ve had a rash of tornadoes and flooding the last … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 5 Comments

Horses at Work

Posted on December 23, 2015 by smellincoffee

Horses at Work: Harnessing Power in Industrial America© 2008 Ann Norton Greene322 pages The quintessential image of horses in American history is the cowboy, of rough men moving cattle in the wilderness on horseback. But follow the cattle, and their … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Forgotten Ally

Posted on December 19, 2015 by smellincoffee

Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II© 2013 Rana Mitter467 pages Two years before a mad painter’s schemes plunged the world into war, China was fighting for its life.  It began the 20th century at a crossroads; the old imperial order … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

2016 Reading Challenge

Posted on December 19, 2015 by smellincoffee

A new challenge has been issued, one slightly shorter than last year’s. There are a few curveball categories (a romance set in the future..? Maybe I can count The Moon is a Harsh Mistress), but it looks like a fun … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 5 Comments

Midway (Maybe)

Posted on December 15, 2015 by smellincoffee

With the end of the year only a little over two weeks away, it’s high time for me to knock off that classic romance. I’ve had Emma checked out for weeks with little headway made, not that I’ve made a serious … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | 3 Comments