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 (24 January)

Posted on January 23, 2012 by smellincoffee

Teaser Tuesday is weekly game hosted by ShouldBeReading. The chivalric cult had a strange parallel in the sleeping arrangment known as ‘bundling’, which was common both to rural areas of seventeenth-century Wales and to eighteenth-century New England. This was likewise … Continue reading →

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Choices of One

Posted on January 23, 2012 by smellincoffee

Star Wars: Choices of One© 2011 Timothy Zahn366 pages The choices of one shape the futures of all. (Jedi saying) Timothy Zahn’s Allegiance (2006) introduced us to the Hand of Judgment, a band of “rogue stormtroopers” — deserters turned do-good … Continue reading →

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At Home

Posted on January 21, 2012 by smellincoffee

At Home: A Short History of Private Life© 2011 Bill Bryson512 pages How much history and how many laughs can you put under one roof? Take a tour of Bill Bryson’s old English home with him and find out.  At … Continue reading →

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The Oceans

Posted on January 21, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Oceans© 2000 Ellen J. Prager with Sylvia A. Earle314 pages Seventy percent of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, constituting a vast and largely unknown world of its own — vitally important to ours, but scarcely explored and … Continue reading →

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The Misunderstood Jew

Posted on January 19, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Misunderstood Jew: the Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus© 2007 Amy-Jill Levine250 pages  Amy-Jill Levine is a Jew for Jesus. No, not that kind of Jew — she’s happily Orthodox, thank you very much. But she grew … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (18 January)

Posted on January 18, 2012 by smellincoffee

Pending Reviews: How the Mind Works, Stephen Pinker; The Misunderstood Jew: the Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, Amy-Jill Levine.Currently Reading: The Fabric of the Cosmos, Brian Greene; At Home, Bill BrysonPotentials: The Oceans, Ellen PragerNew Releases: Bernard … Continue reading →

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Supervolcano: Eruption

Posted on January 17, 2012 by smellincoffee

Supervolcano: Eruption© 2011 Harry Turtledove420 pages “I love the smell of hydrogen sulfide in the morning,” Daniel intoned. “Smells like…tenure.” p. 146 Sometimes, even Harry Turtledove must tire of penning novels based on World War II. I don’t know what … Continue reading →

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The Throne of Fire

Posted on January 17, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Kane Chronicles #2: The Throne of Fire© 2011 Rick Riordan464 pages Sadie Kane isn’t even a teenager yet, but she and her older brother have four days to find the three pieces of the lost Book of Ra, ressurected … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Books I’d Recommend to Someone Who Doesn’t Read Nonfiction

Posted on January 17, 2012 by smellincoffee

This week the Broke and the Bookish are asking people to recommend ten books to someone who doesn’t read a particular genre. Since nonfiction doesn’t get a lot of love in the blogging community — people read it sparingly if at all … Continue reading →

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The Positronic Man

Posted on January 13, 2012 by smellincoffee

The Positronic Man© 1993 Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg290 pages This novel takes me back to high school, where at some point following the release of The Bicentennial Man starring Robin Williams, I checked it out and read my very first Asimov. … Continue reading →

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