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.

This Week at the Library (17/3)

Posted on March 17, 2010 by smellincoffee

This week at the library: It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes! proved a breezy but interesting read, containing some forty essays on the world above — the sky and both the celestial and earth-bound bodies that inhabit it. The essays cover not … Continue reading →

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Joan of Arc: the Legend and the Reality

Posted on March 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

Joan of Arc: the Legend and the Reality© 1959 Frances Gies306 pages Few historical characters, and no women, are more famous than Joan of Arc. Her name and story are known throughout the world. In the Middle Ages there were … Continue reading →

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The Ethics of Star Trek

Posted on March 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Ethics of Star Trek© 2000 Judith Barad with Ed Robertson368 pages Captain Picard: There is perhaps no greater challenge than the study of philosophy.Wesley Crusher: William James won’t be on my Starfleet exams.Picard: The important things will never be. … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday (16-3)

Posted on March 16, 2010 by smellincoffee

‘Tis Tuesday. Let us be Teased, from Should Be Reading.  According to a story told by the priest who became Joan’s confessor, as she crossed the bridge, a mounted soldier among the crowd called out, “Isn’t that the Maid?” and … Continue reading →

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It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes!

Posted on March 11, 2010 by smellincoffee

It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes: Four Seasons of Natural Phenomena and Oddities of the Sky© 1992 Jerry Dennis; illustrations by Glenn Wolff323 pages It’s Raining Frogs and Fishes is a collection of nearly forty essays on the many mysteious of … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (10-3)

Posted on March 10, 2010 by smellincoffee

American Infidel is a biography of Robert G. Ingersoll, one which places slight emphasis on his career as a “secular preacher”, one who railed against the abuses of organized religion while promoting liberty and humanism.  The biography is thorough, presenting … Continue reading →

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Potatoes are Cheaper

Posted on March 9, 2010 by smellincoffee

Potatoes are Cheaper© Max Shulman 1971235 pages Potatoes are cheaperTomatoes are cheaperNow’s the timeTo fall in love The dearest book in my private library is not a groundshaking or even remotely serious: it is rather a collection of humorous short … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday (9-3)

Posted on March 9, 2010 by smellincoffee

It’s Tuesday again, and time for teasing. As ever, this meme’s home is Should Be Reading. “What major are you most interested in?”“What’s the easiest?” I said.“Home economics,” he said.“What’s the next easiest?” I said.“It’s between sociology and library science,” … Continue reading →

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Archie Americana — Best of the Fifties

Posted on March 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

Archie Americana Series: Best of the Fifties, volumes 1 and 2© 1991/1992 Archie Comics96 pages each (I wouldn’t normally comment on comic books, but these are part of a special collection.) I grew up on — indeed, learned to read … Continue reading →

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Hitler’s War

Posted on March 5, 2010 by smellincoffee

Hitler’s War© 2009 Harry Turtledove496 pages The year is 1938, and war wages in Spain between the Popular Front — a collection of democrats, liberals, socialists, communists, and anarchists —  and the Nationalists, those supporting the attempted military takeover of … Continue reading →

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