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 Exchange

Posted on January 9, 2024 by smellincoffee

Over twenty years ago I saw a fat paperback with an interesting cover depicting a businessman caught in strings above his head. That book, The Firm, was an absorbing thriller about a young lawyer who begins working at a boutique tax … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books to be Published this year!

Posted on January 9, 2024 by smellincoffee

 The Sher-dar madraseh is yet another sign that Islam in the Iranian world is like a woman’s plain chador worn over party finery, a cloak that covers, disguises, or incorporates much traditionally Iranian, pre-Islamic, Zoroastrian belief. This time, General Alchin Yalangtush Bahadur had let … Continue reading →

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In Search of Zarathustra

Posted on January 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, in which Christians celebrate the arrival of the Magi to Bethlehem. It is fitting, then, on this day about wise men of the east following stars, to take a look at at a … Continue reading →

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

My Selma

Posted on January 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Willie Mae Brown was a child during the Civil Rights movement, which reached its high point in 1965, with the Selma to Montgomery march that resulted in the Civil Rights bill of 1965, with great assistance from the local sheriff and … Continue reading →

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Curbing Traffic

Posted on January 4, 2024 by smellincoffee

A few years ago, Chris and Melissa Bruntlett moved from Vancouver to Delft, and wrote a book (Building the Cycling City) on how Dutch city design not only facilitates, but encourages, cycling as a primary of transportation. Having explained how, Curbing Traffic delves into … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Best of 2023: Annual Year in Review

Posted on January 3, 2024 by smellincoffee

Considering that I’m about to finish my first read for 2024, it’s high time for looking back on the past year and all that. At the close of 2023, I had three goals: to finish off Mount Doom, make solid … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Books I Read in 2023

Posted on January 2, 2024 by smellincoffee

Today’s treble-T is top ten reads of 2023. But first, these important messages from Teaser Tuesday: “Your order, sir?”“What?” I looked up and remembered where I was. “Sorry. I was watching two people break into my home.”“So….a dozen assorted donuts … Continue reading →

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2023 in Other Media: Games

Posted on January 1, 2024 by smellincoffee

I’ve never been one for chasing the latest and greatest games and platforms, preferring instead to find games that I can spend a lot of time with. Case in point: I played The Sims 2 from 2004 to 2018 (when … Continue reading →

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The Reactionary Mind

Posted on December 31, 2023 by smellincoffee

Arise, you consumers, from your slumber –  arise, ye impoverished of purpose!    Michael Penn Warren   here picks up his pen in defense of medieval civilization,  self-reliance,  Luddism,  and letter-writing.   He bids the reader smash his cellphone and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Science Survey ’23

Posted on December 31, 2023 by smellincoffee

I finished this year’s science survey early in the year — very early, in May — and ended up with 18 titles in total, which was below the 20 I’d hoped for. Taking a look at “Predicting….Science Survey 2023“, I see … Continue reading →

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