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.

Little House in the Big Woods

Posted on August 9, 2024 by smellincoffee

I have a persistent fantasy of living in a little off-grid cabin on the edge of the woods, a fantasy I suspect owes entirely to reading this as a child. It’s a memoir-in-novel form of the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, … Continue reading →

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Blast from the Past II: The Quack Attack is Back!

Posted on August 9, 2024 by smellincoffee

Last year I closed out July with a special week of themed reading called “Blast from the Past”, in which I visited 1990s kidlit — or, in the case of the Henry & Beezus books, books I happened to read … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on August 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you recently finished reading? Yesterday I finished Damned Un-English, a novel about a fellow who joined the submarine service in the early 1910s and…er, just spends the novel talking to people about the big European war that’s looming. … Continue reading →

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Damned Un-English

Posted on August 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Gilbert Maltravers, of His Majesty’s Ship Hindustan, has just been promoted to full lieutenant and has decided to jump ship. The Hindustan, anyway, not the Navy, though he has his doubts about his future there unless there’s a war. Gilbert … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Series Favorites

Posted on August 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s theme is interesting: our favorite books from ten different series. Have I read ten different series? But first, a tease! “A thousand years! The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets will last forever, Gilbert!” “It will need a … Continue reading →

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When Dixie was the Southwest

Posted on August 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Everett Dick’s The Dixie Frontier offers a fascinating glimpse into the early days of the American Southwest, providing a colorful and informative account of life on the frontier. Following the end of the Revolutionary War, Americans poured westward, venturing all … Continue reading →

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What happened after Star Trek: The One with the Whales?

Posted on August 2, 2024 by smellincoffee

Have you seen Star Trek IV: A Voyage Home? It’s easy to remember — it’s the funny one, with whales and Admiral Kirk not recognizing 20th century slang. The Enterprise crew have to go back to 1986 to pick up … Continue reading →

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July 2024 in Review

Posted on August 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

July is the beginning of the Great Sticky Siege that is an Alabama summer, as we all flee inside to worship the freon god and hope our AC units can hold the line until relief breaks in October. It continued … Continue reading →

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Moviewatch: July 2023

Posted on July 31, 2024 by smellincoffee

July was an unusal month in that I literally only watched one movie by myself, Father Stu. The rest were watched with (and chosen by) friends. Manhattan Murder Mystery, 1993. Woody Allen’s wife Diane Keaton is suspicious about the death … Continue reading →

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Haunted house BNB? + WWW Wednesday

Posted on July 31, 2024 by smellincoffee

There’s a blogging event that happens on Wednesdays in which readers answer these questions three: Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “Would you stay in a haunted house”, to which I say — sure, as I don’t believe … Continue reading →

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