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.

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 , , , | 13 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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Between stimulus and response, there is a space

Posted on May 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

Nearly twenty years ago I stumbled upon Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the writings of the Stoics. I can’t tell you the exact story because too much time has passed: at the time I was not religious but had an inexplicable … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflection, Religion and Philosophy | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

April 2024

Posted on May 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

Well, April didn’t quite go the way I’d expected. A lot of equipment turnover at the library + beginning of big archives project at the library + end-of-term assignments meant that after a few history reads, the only thing I … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 1 Comment

Moviewatch: April 2024

Posted on April 30, 2024 by smellincoffee

Bonnie and Clyde, 1963. Two poor teenagers set forth on a fund-raising tour of the midwest. Highly romanticized, but fun, with a great soundtrack.    Harold and Maude, 1971.       A morbid young man who goes to funerals for … Continue reading →

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