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.

Collision of Empires

Posted on September 20, 2014 by smellincoffee

Collision of Empires488 pages© 2014 Prit Buttar                   A quirk of the Great War is that its initial contestants usually cease to be subjects of interest to the historical imagination once Europe’s titans … Continue reading →

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The Fellowship of the Ring

Posted on September 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Fellowship of the Ring, being the first part of the Lord of the Rings© 1954 J.R.R Tolkien570 pages Not many birthday gift involves a life-threatening quest to defeat a Dark Lord and prevent the enslavement of all living creatures, … Continue reading →

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Tobacco

Posted on September 13, 2014 by smellincoffee

Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization416 pages© 2003 Iain Gateley The age of discovery opened an era of global domination by European culture and power, but in at least one instance, the new world had its … Continue reading →

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Living Downtown

Posted on September 11, 2014 by smellincoffee

Living Downtown: The History of Residential Hotels in the United States © 1994 Paul Groth 399 pages Although today hotels are thought of as places for travelers, at its most basic level a hotel is simply a rented room; an … Continue reading →

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This week: hot rocks, war in the east, and Holly Golightly

Posted on September 8, 2014 by smellincoffee

This week the to-be-read list shrank, as I finished Richard Fortey’s Earth — an introduction to the processes that shape the Earth, while at the same time a travelogue to the planet’s most beautiful hotspots.  Fortey is both tourist and … Continue reading →

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Wiseguy

Posted on September 4, 2014 by smellincoffee

Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family © 1986 Nicholas Pileggi, Henry Hill 256 pages How does a boy from a nice family grow up to be a gangster? Well, it helps to live across the street from a mob-owned cab … Continue reading →

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Progress of the War (Reading)

Posted on September 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The ninth month of the year means ‘tis time to review how my Great War reading is shaping up. The summer has seen not only a terrific book on the Italian-Austrian front (The White War), but at least two books on … Continue reading →

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The Red Baron

Posted on September 1, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Red BaronManfred von Richthofen© 1969 ed. Stanley Ulanoff240 pages The average man on the street may not know the first thing about the Great War, but he’ll have heard of the Red Baron. Attribute that to a silly song, … Continue reading →

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The Sorrows of Empire

Posted on August 26, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Sorrows of Empire© 2009 David Mack464 pages In the original series episode “Mirror, Mirror”,  Star Trek heroes Kirk,McCoy Uhura, and Scotty inadvertently changed places with their counterparts in a mirror universe, alter egos who were agents of a galactic … Continue reading →

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The Maltese Falcon

Posted on August 23, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Maltese Falcon© 1929 Dashiell Hammeett217 pages “You have always, I must say, a smooth explanation ready.” “What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?”  A beautiful woman whose life is in danger; a streetwise and world-worn private … Continue reading →

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