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.

Killing Kennedy

Posted on May 7, 2026 by smellincoffee

A black convertible slows around a turn in Dallas, showing off a handsome couple in the backseat. Shots are fired, and suddenly a woman in pink is climbing across the trunk of the convertible as it now speeds away. These … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday & Long and Short Reviews

Posted on May 6, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt is “What could you give a speech about without notice”, which makes me laugh because going off on spontaneous history lectures is a specialty of mine. History is my passion, and it’s partially connected to my profession: I … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Politics and Civic Interest | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Being Nixon

Posted on May 5, 2026 by smellincoffee

Last year I nearly did a deep dive into all things Nixon: exactly a year later,  he beckoned me to follow him, and this time I did.  What is it about Nixon?  One book I’ve read recently, and I can’t … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday

Posted on May 5, 2026 by smellincoffee

Teaser Tuesday Shortly after one-thirty, he was informed by his military aide, Brigadier General Robert Schulz, that President Kennedy had been shot. There was still something about General Eisenhower, now seventy-three, that made people turn to him for reassurance. A … Continue reading →

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Ike and Dick

Posted on May 4, 2026 by smellincoffee

I increasingly find Richard Nixon a fascinating personality, and stumbled onto this while looking for Nixon books: I’ve been reading it along with Being Nixon the last week or so. Ike and Dick focuses on the relationship between these two … Continue reading →

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Moviewatch, April 2026

Posted on April 30, 2026 by smellincoffee

Paul Blart: Mall Cop,  2009. This is an….action-comedy somewhere on the level of Home Alone 3.   It’s fairly moronic, with lots of “Kevin James is fat” esque physical comedy. The plot concerns a security guard at a mall (remember … Continue reading →

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April 2026 in Review

Posted on April 29, 2026 by smellincoffee

What a month! Despite April being peak tornado season in Alabama, this year the skies were perfectly clement. Not until this past week, in fact, did we have any rumblings of tornadoes at all — seemingly all of our rain … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday and celebrities

Posted on April 29, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is “A Celebrity We’d Like to Meet”. Interestingly, one of my favorite authors (Rod Dreher) recently announced he’s returning to the United States, and has chosen Birmingham as his new residence for the … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tuesday:

Posted on April 28, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s treble T is a freebie, and my initial impulse was to highlight some booktubers I enjoy. However, embedding videos is always hit and miss with youtube, so I’m going to highlight recent books in my browsing history. But first, … Continue reading →

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Rebecca

Posted on April 25, 2026 by smellincoffee

Imagine your life being so overwhelmed by other people’s memories of a woman that her name is emblazoned over your story — and still worse, you don’t have a name in your story, only the title that both you and … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments