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.

Teaser Tuesday because it’s Tuesday and not Wednesday as I’d previously believed

Posted on June 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

Harry and I were standing outside watching the sunset when Maria-Grazia came out dragging her suitcase. She was driving back to Italy that night, but that’s not why I did a double take. She appeared to be transformed. I almost … Continue reading →

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The 99% Invisible City

Posted on June 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Ordinary Design© 2020 Roman Mars400 pages I’ve spent many hours in two of my city’s oldest buildings — one a church, the other a mixed-use Italianate beauty turned … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Man Called Ove

Posted on June 26, 2023 by smellincoffee

A Man Called Ove© 2012 Fredrik Backman368 pages Ove is a simple man. He likes to wake early, patrol the neighborhood and look for trouble, take care of what needs fixing, grouse about people not doing things properly, and then … Continue reading →

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Of blood and brilliant butlers

Posted on June 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Rose George has previously shared with readers her voyages across the world following cargo ships and movements to make sanitation both more eco-friendly and readily available to poorer communities. In Nine Pints, she dips into the circulatory system. The result … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The Psychopath Test

Posted on June 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry© 2011 Jon Ronson290 pages Jon Ronson’s journalistic niche is the weird, so when he learned that numerous intellectuals across the western world had received identical volumes of the same modified book … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Tu- um, Wednesday

Posted on June 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

I missed yesterday’s Top Ten List because I was at the hospital doing my one-year transplant checkup. Everything looks peachy on that end: they were concerned about my low white blood cell count, but a shot and changes to my … Continue reading →

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Teaser Tuesday posted from a phone edition

Posted on June 20, 2023 by smellincoffee

There is one drawback to not wearing a moustache, and that that if you don’t have one, you’ve got nothing to twirl when baffled. All you can do is stand with your lower jaw drooping like tired lily, looking a … Continue reading →

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The Island of Doctor Moreau

Posted on June 17, 2023 by smellincoffee

“It was not in eating the apple that I sinned, but in overstepping the mark set for me. ” – Adam, Paradiso.   Adrift at sea,  a young biologist named Prendick – who had taken to natural history to relieve … Continue reading →

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Farming for xp and fields

Posted on June 16, 2023 by smellincoffee

More short rounds today, bringing together a lite SF title and a collection of Wendell Berry’s farming essays. First up is Craig Anderson’s Level Up, a title in the relatively new field of ‘litrpg’ in which video game elements are … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science fiction, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Billy Yank @ Johnny Reb Stadium: PLAY BALL!

Posted on June 15, 2023 by smellincoffee

That title is just a way of me combining two Civil War short rounds into one post. (Billy Yank wins the five-game series, 3 to 2, but in a show of terrible sportmanship, burned the stadium on their departure.) First … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments