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.

April 23: Shakespeare and St George

Posted on April 23, 2024 by smellincoffee

April 23rd is the feast day of St. George, the patron saint of England, and for that reason I devote April’s reading to naught but English literature, English history, etc. I am not entirely sure how a man killing dragons … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Unread Books on my Shelf

Posted on April 22, 2024 by smellincoffee

….hmm. Well, I dispatched Mount Doom last year, so I don’t have that many. The Shahnameh and The Houses We Live In, plus The Origin of Feces is hiding somewhere. I think Taxi, a collection of interviews with Cairo cab … Continue reading →

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Worth reading: “A Time we Never Knew”

Posted on April 22, 2024 by smellincoffee

Freya of GIRLS, one of my favorite substackers, just posted an article on one of my favorite book-authors’ substack called “A Time We Never Knew”, on the wistfulness that Gen-Zers can experience when seeing videos of high school in the … Continue reading →

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So I visited Whistle Stop….

Posted on April 19, 2024 by smellincoffee

Yesterday after a library conference (at which I was the only male attendee) I bolted over to Macon, GA, to hear one of my favorite musicians play. I was able to give her my librarian compliment (telling her I appreciated … Continue reading →

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The Broken Realm

Posted on April 19, 2024 by smellincoffee

Two young men land in England and begin their journey home, to the Welsh marches. They are not the cheerful young boys they were nearly two years ago, when they set off for the Holy Land with their lord. They … Continue reading →

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If anyone needs me I’m in Georgia stanning for Morgan Wade

Posted on April 18, 2024 by smellincoffee

I’m an hour away from meeting the musician whose voice I’ve heard every day for the last two years. Had an interesting morning at a library administration conference, then a drive through strawberry, pecan, and peach orchards to Macon, GA. … Continue reading →

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Inie or outie?

Posted on April 17, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is “Introvert or Extrovert: Which are You?” I don’t know that I’d identify with either, since my expressiveness can vary widely depending on whom I’m with. My best friend from school, for instance, … Continue reading →

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Warbow

Posted on April 16, 2024 by smellincoffee

Three kings of Europe are leading a crusade in the Holy Land to retake Jerusalem following its fall to the master-of-war, Saladin — and young Roland Inness, a lad whose bow beat even that of Robin of Loxley, is joining … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Characters I’d Go on Vacation With

Posted on April 16, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s TTT is characters we’d go on vacation with. But first, some teases! And now, in a never-before-attempted bit of meta-metaphysical wizardry, the real Neil Patrick Harris will reappear to bedazzle you with a magic trick. And by “you,” we … Continue reading →

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Longbow

Posted on April 13, 2024 by smellincoffee

From the treeline, young Roland Inness watches in mute horror as his father is murdered by the local lord’s son, who believe him to be in possession of a longbow that poached a deer. Roland himself wields that bow, and … Continue reading →

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