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.

Lords of the North

Posted on December 14, 2010 by smellincoffee

Lords of the North© 2007 Bernard Cornwell317 pages “Where the tides of fortune take us, no man can know.” “They’re tricky, those tides…” (Sisko and Gowron, “By Inferno’s Light“. Deep Space Nine.) Only months ago, Uthred Ragnarson followed Alfred, the defeated … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teaser Tuesday (14 December)

Posted on December 14, 2010 by smellincoffee

Every week, ShouldBeReading hosts “Teaser Tuesday”, in which participants share two-sentence excerpts from their current reads. Some of us are terrible at counting. “Which of you is Rolf?” I shouted as I drew near them. “I am,” a black-bearded man … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Anticipated Reads for 2011

Posted on December 14, 2010 by smellincoffee

This week, the Broke and the Bookish are contemplating a year of new books to delight in. New releases aren’t a staple of my reading diet — I tend to encounter them by chance — but I imagine I’ll be … Continue reading →

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The Kobayashi Maru

Posted on December 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

Star Trek #47: The Kobayashi Maru© 1989 Julia Ecklar254 pages Captain James Kirk and most of his senior officers are adrift in space aboard the shuttlecraft Halley after having struck a gravitic mine. With no engines and minimal power, they’ve … Continue reading →

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Coal: A Human History

Posted on December 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

Coal: A Human History© 2003 Barbara Freese308 pages I never expected to be so fascinated by coal. This book’s cover and title compelled my interest from the first moment I spotted it on my library bookshelves, and the text itself … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Grand Design

Posted on December 10, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Grand Design© 2010 Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow198 pages Though modern physics is considerably harder to understand than say, anthropology, I continue to be fascinated by it — for physics, it seems to me, is the most fundamental science. … Continue reading →

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Kobayashi Maru

Posted on December 9, 2010 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Enterprise: Kobayashi Maru© 2008 Michael A. Martin and Andy Mangels482 pages “This is the Kobayashi Maru, nineteen periods out of Altair VI. We have struck a gravitic mine and have lost all power…” The Kobayashi Maru has a … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (1 Dec. – 8 December)

Posted on December 8, 2010 by smellincoffee

This past week I continued in Bernard Cornwell’s excellent Saxon Chronicles with The Pale Horseman, started the Typhon Pact series and declared myself ~Caught Up~ in trek lit with Zero Sum Game by David Mack, and finished The Earth Shall Weep, … Continue reading →

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The Earth Shall Weep

Posted on December 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America © 2000 James Wilson466 pages Having grown up in Alabama, I don’t know what it’s like to live among buildings that testify to history. I’ve never stepped onto a sidewalk with paving … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Places to Read

Posted on December 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

This week the folks at the Broke and the Bookish want to know just where we like to spend all of our time reading… 1. The Reading Tree When I lived on-campus, I lived across the street from the main … Continue reading →

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