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 (3 April)

Posted on April 3, 2012 by smellincoffee

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly book-related event in which we share tidbits from our current reads. Play along at Should Be Reading! Crossing his arms over his chest in what Tom sensed was feigned annoyance, Cambridge said, “I don’t recall … Continue reading →

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Life Ascending

Posted on March 31, 2012 by smellincoffee

Life Ascending: the Ten Great Inventions of Evolution© 2009 Nick Lane344 pages For my money, few subjects are as impressive, beautiful, and awe-inspiring as biology and evolution. Is there a greater drama in the cosmos outside the long play of … Continue reading →

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Posted on March 31, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Obamas© 2012 Jodi Kantor368 pages In 2004, a young state senator from Illinois gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. His unusual name wasn’t one anyone knew — until that night. Barack Obama’s address decried polarization as … Continue reading →

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Children of the Storm

Posted on March 31, 2012 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Voyager: Children of the Storm© 2011 Kirsten Beyer418 pages In Unworthy, Kirsten Beyer launched the USS Voyager into the Delta Quadrant anew, this time at the head of a fleet of  ships. Their mission: to make sure that … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday (27 March)

Posted on March 27, 2012 by smellincoffee

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish event in which people share tidbits from their current reads. Play along at ShouldBerReading! “Oh, lord, I am so many things! A scholar, a priest, an eater of cheese, and now I am chaplain … Continue reading →

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Death of Kings

Posted on March 25, 2012 by smellincoffee

Death of Kings© 2011 Bernard Cornwell325 pages Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings… (Richard II, William Shakespeare) Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, lays on his deathbed. Aged and long infirm, … Continue reading →

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Founding Rivals

Posted on March 16, 2012 by smellincoffee

Founding Rivals | Madison vs. Monroe: the Bill of Rights and the Election that Saved a Nation© 2011 Chris DeRose336 pages In these days of contentious politics, where adversaries rip into one another with all the grace of beasts,  Chris … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (14 March)

Posted on March 14, 2012 by smellincoffee

Reviews: 200 pages; © 2012 A family of four sits at a table in a nice restaurant, heads bowed. But they’re not pausing for reflection or prayer; they’re in the middle of a meal, and all attempting to check their … Continue reading →

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The Ascent of Money

Posted on March 14, 2012 by smellincoffee

432 pages; © 2008 Niall Ferguson Money makes the world go ’round. In today’s globalized economy, this is a statement that’s never been more true. Considering the importance of trade in human history, writing a financial history of the world … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (7 March)

Posted on March 7, 2012 by smellincoffee

I recently finished Superfreakonomics and A Brief History of Thought, neither of which generated enough mental chatter to merit a full review. Suffice it to say, Superfreakonomics is simply an addition in the same vein as Freakonomics: the authors use … Continue reading →

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