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.

Top Ten Recentish Kindle Highlights

Posted on May 14, 2024 by smellincoffee

The Tuesday tease: “Are you busy with something?” said the Major. “You can always call another time, when your paperwork is finished.” “No, no, it’s just a final deal book I have to read—make sure all the decimal points are … Continue reading →

Posted in General, quotations | Tagged , | 21 Comments

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

Posted on May 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

Major Pettigrew’s entire life is being unsettled. He’d just suddenly lost his brother, and after the funeral, the Major’s self-absorbed and materialistic son arrives and declares his intentions to move closer to the village — along with his new finance, … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations, Reviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments

al Khamissi’s Taxi

Posted on May 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

Step into a Cairo taxi, circa mid-2000s, and listen to the rumblings of revolution. I can’t remember how this book appeared on my radar — only that it happened recently, and that I bought a used copy almost immediately — … Continue reading →

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May Flowers

Posted on May 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

‘If you are going to this woman, if you are going to walk the length of England without a map and your mobile and without even telling me first, then at least have the goodness to own up to what … Continue reading →

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Posted on May 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

A letter arrives; lives are changed. Harold Fry and his wife Maureen are retired and struggling: their relationship is dead, their beds in different rooms. Then Harold receives a letter that an old friend and coworker is dying of cancer. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

May the Forth was funner when it was an inside geek joke and not a Disney holiday

Posted on May 4, 2024 by smellincoffee

Just saying.

Posted in General | 4 Comments

The Store

Posted on May 3, 2024 by smellincoffee

At a last huzzah in New York, surrounded by former writers who the modern economy has made superfluous, Jacob and Megan announce to their friends that they are doing the unthinkable: they’re joining The Store. The Store dominates the American … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The Music Shop

Posted on May 2, 2024 by smellincoffee

In a struggling neighborhood in 1988 London, owners and residents like to gather in Frank’s music shop to hear what he has for them. Frank has a gift of being able to hear the music anyone needs at any given … Continue reading →

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Double play: science-y baseball and Tokyo teenage touristing

Posted on May 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

Diary of a Tokyo Teen is a graphic memoir of a Japanese-American teenager’s visit to her relatives in Japan, after an absence of five years. They live in an area not far from Tokyo, and the memoir covers her visiting … Continue reading →

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Worth reading: “What’s Become Of Us”?

Posted on May 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

Freya India writes today on not only how social makes us feel, but how it degrades us as people. Over time I’m becoming convinced that our most pressing concern isn’t that social media makes us feel worse about ourselves. It’s … Continue reading →

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