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.

Dolphins

Posted on August 13, 2009 by smellincoffee

Dolphins © 1975 Jacques-Yves Cousteau 304 pages In every color, there is the light. In every stone sleeps a crystal. Remember the shaman, when he used to say — “Man is the dream of the dolphin.” – “The Dream of … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (12/8)

Posted on August 12, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: Gold, Isaac Asimov Aristotle’s Children, Richard Rubenstein Footprints of God, Greg Iles Anthropology for Dummies, Cameron Smith Securing Democracy, ed. Gary Gregg III Brave New World, Aldous Huxley This was a well-rounded week, I think: history, politics, … Continue reading →

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Brave New World

Posted on August 11, 2009 by smellincoffee

Brave New World © 1932 Aldous Huxley 270 pages In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman introduced the book with his suspicion that Brave New World’s predictions were coming to fruition — namely, that human happiness will be pursued by … Continue reading →

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Securing Democracy

Posted on August 10, 2009 by smellincoffee

Securing Democracy: Why We Have an Electoral College © 2001 ed. Gary Gregg II 171 pages “The Framers of the Constitution would have been appalled at the notion that over time the presidency would become an objection pf partisan ambition, … Continue reading →

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Anthropology for Dummies

Posted on August 9, 2009 by smellincoffee

Anthropology for Dummies: From Archaeology to Linguistics — Your Plain-English Guide to the Study of Humankind © 2008 Cameron Smith with Evan T. Davies 360 pages “The human species has found many ways to be human.” – p. 259 I … Continue reading →

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In the Footprints of God

Posted on August 8, 2009 by smellincoffee

In the Footprints of God © 2003 Greg Iles 459 pages The saying Deus ex machina, literally translated as “god from the machine”, refers to a plot device in which a superman power is used to suddenly resolve the conflict … Continue reading →

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Aristotle’s Children

Posted on August 7, 2009 by smellincoffee

Aristotle’s Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and illuminated the Dark Ages © 2003 Richard Rubenstein 368 pages That title is a touch misleading. While Rubenstein will mention Christians, Muslims, and Jews rediscovering ancient wisdom, he only … Continue reading →

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Gold

Posted on August 6, 2009 by smellincoffee

Gold © Nightfall, Inc. / The Isaac Asimov Estate 345 pages “At present, when there are a great many writers attempting to scale the mountainside of science fiction, it must be rather annoying for them to see the peak occupied … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (5/8)

Posted on August 5, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: Lemony Snicket’s The Carniverous Carnival, The Grim Grotto, The Slippery Slope, The Penultimate Peril, and The End. Walden, Henry David Thoreau To Have or To Be?, Erich Fromm This week I finished Lemony Snicket’s series of unfortunate … Continue reading →

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To Have or To Be?

Posted on August 5, 2009 by smellincoffee

To Have or to Be? © 1976 Erich Fromm 215 pages Society was sick when Erich Fromm penned The Sane Society in the fifties, and it hadn’t gotten any better by the 1970s when he was asked to participate in … Continue reading →

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