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.

The Penelopiad

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Penelopiad© 2006  Margaret Atwood224 pages               Which is worse, waiting twenty years for a rascal of a husband to return home while simultaneously managing his kingdom, raising his son, and fending off scores of … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Civil War and Sea People

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: This weekend I finally posted comments for Away Down South, completing my unintentional miniseries of Books Whose Titles Came from the Chorus of “Dixie”.   The traditional verses offer a lot of other phrases ripe for titles; imagine … Continue reading →

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The Burden of Southern History

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Burden of Southern History © 1960, 1968, 1970 C. Vann Wordward 250 pages Louisiana State University Press The publication of these essays on southern character and its tragic history, from Civil War to the abandoned civil rights efforts of … Continue reading →

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Away Down South

Posted on May 31, 2014 by smellincoffee

Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity © 2007 James C. Cobb 416 pages             What does it mean to be southern, beyond a fondness for turnip greens and cornbread?  The answer is an evolving one, as the South’s … Continue reading →

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Who Killed Homer?

Posted on May 29, 2014 by smellincoffee

Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom© 1998 Victor Davis Hanson290 pages For hundreds of years, the study of the classics was at the heart of a liberal education, thought essential to the … Continue reading →

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Ten in the life of Sharpe

Posted on May 27, 2014 by smellincoffee

Since 2010 I have been steadily reading through Sharpe’s series, a set of historical novels following the storied career of the fictional Richard Sharpe, an orphan turned soldier who became an officer after saving the Duke of Wellington’s life in … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday

Posted on May 27, 2014 by smellincoffee

Marvin interrupted. “Suppose I don’t want to spend my life on anti-Communist work but I feel — a calling to fight the Communists on as many fronts as I can. Am I an altruist then?”“Yes,” Lee said. “And you are … Continue reading →

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Getting it Right

Posted on May 26, 2014 by smellincoffee

Getting it Right © 2006 William F. Buckley Jr 2003         Getting it Right is a political history disguised as a love story,  both tales told amid the radically shifting political climate of America’s 1960s, as Americans … Continue reading →

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Captain of Rome

Posted on May 24, 2014 by smellincoffee

Captain of Rome© 2010 John Stack400 pages The Mediterranean is awash in blood as the first Punic War steeps in intensity.  Having risen to the challenge and successfully confronted Carthage on the high seas,  the Republic of Rome  is swaggering … Continue reading →

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Ninety Percent of Everything

Posted on May 21, 2014 by smellincoffee

Ninety Percent of Everything:  Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate.© 2013 Rose George287 pages UK Title: Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping […] What is 1300 feet … Continue reading →

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