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.

WWW Wednesday

Posted on February 25, 2026 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, full cast audio edition. WHAT are you reading now? CJ BOX’S THE CROSSROADS! IT CAME OUT YESTERDAY! MORE JOE PICKETT! I would have read it through yesterday … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Quotes about Books

Posted on February 24, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is quotations about…books. But first, a tease! Back in Washington, Lincoln came down with what doctors diagnosed as “varioloid,” a mild form of smallpox. So now he and Tad both were sick—though Tad at least was improving. Where … Continue reading →

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Andrew Johnson

Posted on February 23, 2026 by smellincoffee

Andrew Johnson is one of those presidents who can’t get away with merely being forgotten; he is no Pierce or Fillmore, whom the general public knows nothing about. If Johnson is mentioned, his reputation is closer to that of his … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter and the Strangely Tortured McGuffin Quest

Posted on February 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

I’ve been looking forward to the full-cast audio edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for a while now, because (1) the full cast audio books are BRILLIANT (2) I’m addicted to them and have accepted that all … Continue reading →

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With Malice Toward None

Posted on February 20, 2026 by smellincoffee

As part of my US Presidents course of reading, and in combination with my obsessive 1840s – 1860s dive,  I’ve read two biographies of Abraham Lincoln this year –   one hailing him a saint, the other a brute. Both … Continue reading →

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Taking Religion Seriously

Posted on February 19, 2026 by smellincoffee

I should preface this review with a bit of biography; some who have been reading me for a while are already familiar with it, and others have gotten bits of it, because I’ve grown more comfortable sharing over the years. … Continue reading →

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A Lenten WWW Wednesday

Posted on February 18, 2026 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? The Dark Sacred Night, Michael Connolly. A Bosch/Ballard novel in which his grumpy retired cop and his increasingly-annoyed-at-the-system novice cop join forces to drink black coffee, listen to jazz, and grouse about the system … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday, Feb 17

Posted on February 17, 2026 by smellincoffee

From Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America, by Walter J. Bornman: It has long been popular to paint James K. Polk as a dark horse, but the record does not square with that tradition. If he was … Continue reading →

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Paradise Valley

Posted on February 16, 2026 by smellincoffee

And so ends my chaotic run at the Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell series — right in the middle, when the serial killer known as The Lizard King is finally rendered extinct like his tyrannranous namesake. Here, Cassie is still a lead … Continue reading →

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Back of Beyond

Posted on February 16, 2026 by smellincoffee

Who’s up for a horror movie, western style? The story begins when an older man is found dead in his half-burned cabin, with a hole in his head and an empty bottle of liquor beside him. When Cody Hoyt arrives … Continue reading →

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