Author Archives: smellincoffee

Unknown's avatar

About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Posted on November 6, 2010 by smellincoffee

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea © 1870 Jules Verne 382 pages  Scarcely a year after the end of the American Civil War, Professor Pierre Aronnax of the Museum of Natural History in Paris is  preparing to return to his native France … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Singular Destiny

Posted on November 6, 2010 by smellincoffee

Star Trek: A Singular Destiny © 2009 Keith R.A. Decandido 384 pages Only days have passed since the culmination of Destiny. The Federation and the Klingon empire, still licking their wounds from the Dominion War, have been ravaged: billions are … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Mother Tongue

Posted on November 5, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Mother Tongue: English & How It Got That Way© 1990 Bill Bryson270 pages “More than 350 million people around the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seem, try to.” While I’m reading this as part of a … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

What Went Wrong?

Posted on November 4, 2010 by smellincoffee

What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle-Eastern Response© 2003 Bernard Lewis180 pages (adopted from lectures) In essence, this collection of modified lectures is a brief history of modernization in the Islamic world and its aftermath. The fist three chapters focus … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

This Week at the Library (28 October – 3 November)

Posted on November 3, 2010 by smellincoffee

This past week has been quiet, as far as books go. I read an older, but never-finished Deep Space Nine relaunch novel (Warpath, David Mack) which was well done but continues in story arcs I don’t particularly like. I finally … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | 3 Comments

Top Ten Books That ‘Got To Me’

Posted on November 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

This week’s top ten topic is “Top Ten Books that Made You Cry“, but in the interests of preserving my dignity I am changing it to “Top Ten Books That Got To You”. These aren’t the ten most emotion-inducing books … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 18 Comments

Teaser Tuesday (2 November)

Posted on November 1, 2010 by smellincoffee

Here for you, a trio of teasers! “Why, where in all history has there ever been a people so ripe for dictatorship as ours! We’re ready to start on a Children’s Crusade — only of adults — right now, and … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged | 7 Comments

America’s Hidden History

Posted on October 31, 2010 by smellincoffee

America’s Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation© 2008 Kenneth C. Davis272 pages “The stories that unfold in these six chapters, which span a period from the Spanish arrival in … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Chamber of Secrets (Audio)

Posted on October 31, 2010 by smellincoffee

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Audio)Read by Jim Dale; Written by J.K. Rowling© 1999, Listening LibraryEight discs, approximately nine hours.Preview the author reading: A few weeks ago while perusing an issue of National Geographic, I heard a rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Devil’s Punchbowl

Posted on October 30, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Devil’s Punchbowl© 2009 Greg Iles592 pages “This town is under siege, and the biggest threat always comes from within.” Recently I read an interview with David Mack, in which he stated that good drama comes from putting mature characters … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment