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.

Lost on Planet China

Posted on March 2, 2009 by smellincoffee

Lost on Planet China: One Man’s Quest to Understand the Most Mysterious Country in the World© 2088 J. Maarten Troost382 pages While looking for a book on Chinese history, I encountered this travelogue and decided to give it a go. … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (2/3)

Posted on March 2, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: What the Buddha Taught, Walpola Rahula The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Cahill 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You, Oliver Thomas Imperium, Robert Harris The Roman Mind, M.L. Clarke This week’s reading was an interesting … Continue reading →

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The Roman Mind

Posted on March 2, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Roman Mind: Studies in the History of Thought from Cicero to Marcus Aurelius© 1956 M.L. Clarke168 pg. While Rome is known for its administrative prowess, author M.L. Clarke wants to remind us that they were thinkers, too: philosophers, borrowing … Continue reading →

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Imperium

Posted on February 27, 2009 by smellincoffee

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome© Robert Harris 2006305 pages I would not have expected to find a novel set in ancient Rome, nor would I expect the author of a mystery novel set in a world where Nazi Germany … Continue reading →

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Ten Things

Posted on February 27, 2009 by smellincoffee

Ten Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can’t Because He Needs the Job!)© Rev. Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, 2007108 pages.I do not subscribe to the Christian faith, but I’ve heard of this book through one podcast or another and … Continue reading →

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The Gifts of the Jews

Posted on February 25, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Gifts of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everybody Thinks and Feels© Thomas Cahill293 pages This week I continued in Thomas Cahill’s Hinges of History series with The Gifts of the Jews. Rather than … Continue reading →

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What the Buddha Taught

Posted on February 23, 2009 by smellincoffee

What the Buddha Taught© 1974 Walpola Rahula I’m a member of a philosophy group on YahooGroups, and this book came up in discussion. Since my knowledge of Buddhism is quite limited, I decided to indulge in a little literacy-expanding this … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (23/2)

Posted on February 23, 2009 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: Mythology, Edith Hamilton The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, Peter Quammen Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea, Thomas Cahill I began this week with Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, which is concerned chiefly with the Greco-Roman legends. Hamilton is an author I have … Continue reading →

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Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea

Posted on February 21, 2009 by smellincoffee

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter© 2003 Thomas Cahill303 pages, including index I believe I picked this book up years ago, but never finished it. Very little seemed familiar as I read through the book this week, so … Continue reading →

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The Reluctant Mr. Darwin

Posted on February 19, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of his Theory of Evolution© 2006 Peter Quammen304 pages, including chronology, bibliography, notes, and index. I intended to read this for the week of Charles Darwin’s birthday … Continue reading →

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