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.

Today is August 4, 2026, in the City of Allendale, California

Posted on August 4, 2026 by smellincoffee

I can’t believe I almost missed this. Ray Bradbury’s story, “And There Will Come Soft Rains”, was the creepiest bit of short fiction I ever read in middle or high school. Images of it have haunted me since. The best … Continue reading →

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The Age of Eisenhower

Posted on August 4, 2026 by smellincoffee

Apologies if you are on the list and received a blank email earlier: WordPress ate my words. Fortunately I always draft off-platform. Many presidents have a defining moment – a call to arms in a speech, a decisive action,  a … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Top Ten Covers I’ve Eyeballed Recently

Posted on August 3, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is a “Book Cover Related Freebie”. I was going to do “My Favorite Covers for 2026 (So Far)”, but honesty my reading has not been great-cover heavy. So, I’m going to …paste an image of my Amazon browsing … Continue reading →

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Stephen Fry’s Odyssey

Posted on August 1, 2026 by smellincoffee

A couple of years ago I read Stephen Fry’s Mythos, his attempt to bring together some of the primordial Greek mythological characters into one narrative; he followed it with Heroes, Troy, and finally Odyssey. The recent release of an Odyssey … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, General, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Moviewatch July 2028

Posted on July 31, 2026 by smellincoffee

Annnd that’s a wrap for movies this month! Young Washington, 2026.   Watched on opening weekend with the ladyfriend, who indulged my historical asides (“That’s Thomas Gage, he’s going to be an antagonist in twenty years.”)  and and the film’s … Continue reading →

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July 2026 in Review

Posted on July 30, 2026 by smellincoffee

While I’ll finish The Age of Eisenhower today and could wrap up Stephen Fry’s Odyssey tomorrow,, reviews for either before August are unlikely. So, let’s wrap up July in books! We travel ever deeper into the oppressive heatsink of July, … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday and “My Life in Pictures”?

Posted on July 29, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “My life in photos or gifs”. I’m not going to share any personal photos, but will share ten of my rotating desktop wallpapers. But first, WWW Wednesday! WHAT have you finish reading … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Books We Couldn’t WAIT to Read…but haven’t…

Posted on July 27, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is books we couldn’t wait to get and have not read. But first, The Tuesday Tease! Odysseus openly laughed. ‘Oh my goodness, you’ve never seen such arocky, scrubby, barren, unforgiving spot,’ he said. ‘It’s all our farmers cando … Continue reading →

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The Lincoln Obsession

Posted on July 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

James L. Swanson is something of a Lincoln obsessive. How obsessive? Well, he’s considered an authority for evaluating Lincoln-related artifacts and relics, and he has quite a collection himself — including a lock of Lincoln’s hair. (He can also name-drop … Continue reading →

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Books We Wish We’d Read Sooner + WWW Wednesday

Posted on July 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short reviews is, “Books We Wish We’d Found Sooner”. I tend to think I find books when I’m meant to. I have mentioned on numerous occasions, for instance, that Death and Life of Great American … Continue reading →

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