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 August 14, 2024 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? For “real” reading, I just finished Star Trek: The Higher Frontier, a TOS-MOVIE era novel. I also read three books in the Marvin Redpost series for Blast from the Past. WHAT are you reading … Continue reading →

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The Higher Frontier

Posted on August 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sorry, this isn’t Blast from the Past related, but Lower Decks is still two weeks away from airing and Strange New Worlds won’t return until 2025. Had to scratch my Trek itch. Got some Louis Sachar coming! On Andor, the … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tuesday: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles!

Posted on August 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”, which — no pun intended — is definitely in my wheelhouse. As longtime readers here know, transportation is a frequent nonfiction visit of mine, possibly because I come from a family of truckers … Continue reading →

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California Diaries, round one

Posted on August 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

Warning: big post. Comments, videos, quotes. Years ago when the world was new and dinosaurs walked upon the face of the Earth, I saw a novel with an interesting cover and took a look. It proved to be a fictional … Continue reading →

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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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