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.

The spice must flow: Dune, the Graphic Novel(s)

Posted on June 12, 2024 by smellincoffee

Purists may give me the stink-eye, but when I spotted these in our new acquisitions in the children’s department, I snatched them right up. I aim to read Dune this year, and I figured a graphic novel version might break … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 33 Comments

Tiger Chair

Posted on June 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

War. War never changes. Oh, the execution of it changes — spears become rifles, scouts on fast horses are replaced by drones and mining photos for GPS data — but the horror of it remains, as does certain truths like … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Top Ten Bookish Wishes

Posted on June 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s a day for sharing the books we’d really love to own. But first, teases! Pondering the implications of a red-hot cowpat landing on my head, I felt a surge of unease and retraced my steps. I hadn’t gone far … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 20 Comments

AI Book Art Game Results (and alter-images!)

Posted on June 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

Last week I posted fifteen AI-generated images created by prompts inspired by books. Davida Chazan of the Chocolate Lady’s Book Blog won with nine correct guesses! (1) The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde. Pretty much everyone got this one. … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , | 9 Comments

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Posted on June 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

Last week I finished A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, the second in the Monk and Robot duology. In the first book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built, we were introduced to the Monk, Dex, who journeyed into the wilderness looking for … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

The Lives of the Stoics

Posted on June 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

Some seventeen years ago I discovered The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and the Discourses and Handbook of Epictetus. Neither men meant to publish these: the first was a private diary that was publically shared after the Emperor’s death, the second … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Crown-shy

Posted on June 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Mosscap pointed. “Crown shyness is so striking, don’t you think?” Dex had no idea what Mosscap meant. “Sorry, what’s striking?”“Stop,” Mosscap said. “Look.”Dex sighed, but they hit the brakes, put their feet on the paving below, and looked up. Mosscap … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations | 1 Comment

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Posted on June 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

What do people need? Dex is a garden monk who should, by all accounts, enjoy a perfectly happy life. Health, a meaningful job, people who love them — what’s missing? Dex doesn’t know. After departing from the monastery to pursue … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

D-Day: Remembering those who died that others might be Free

Posted on June 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, in which Americans, Brits, and Canadians landed on the beaches of Normandy and opened the Second Front and began reclaiming Europe from Nazism the cost of their lives. Death to tyrants. Here’s FDR, … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 3 Comments

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

Posted on June 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Constance is a young woman who’s just arrived in Hazelbourne, there to take care of an older family friend who’s just had a bout with flu. She enters into a new social circle thanks to this connection, and despite the … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments