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 Debutante

Posted on June 15, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Debutante: From High Society to White Supremacy© 2023 Jon RonsonAudible original, 3 hrs The Debutante is Jon Ronson’s investigation into the rumors and contradictions surrounding Carol Howe, a young woman who became interested in white nationalism and associated with … Continue reading →

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The Dirty Life

Posted on June 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love© 2011 Kristin Kimball287 pages When Kristin Kimball left her cozy confines in the big city to interview a passionate young farmer in the sticks, she had no idea her life … Continue reading →

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

Teesday Toosins

Posted on June 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

Today’s “Top Ten Tuesday” is ‘bookish wishes’, or books we’d like to own. But first! Teases! Teaser Tuesday, Or: A Buncha Quotes from Level Up That I liked “Hell no. I don’t want to make it weird. She’s just out … Continue reading →

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Angels, barbarians, Trump, and boring Klansmen

Posted on June 12, 2023 by smellincoffee

Short rounds time! Angels, Barbarians, and Nincompoops is a wonderful romp through a few score words in the English language. Esolen has always impressed me as a man deep in word & song, saturated by the beauty of language — … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, quotations, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Adventures with Extremists

Posted on June 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

Them: Adventures with Extremists© 2011 Jon Ronson338 pages Personally, dear reader, if I were infiltrating Bohemian Grove, where the American aristocracy gathers to sacrifice children to Moloch and dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, I wouldn’t take Alex … Continue reading →

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Paradiso

Posted on June 6, 2023 by smellincoffee

Paradiso© trans. 2007 Anthony Esolen, original 14th century by Dante Alighieri544 pages including notes & appendices I’ve gotta hand it to Dante, at least the character Dante. I though I’d fallen hard for a woman, but against him there is … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Teaser Tuesday

Posted on June 6, 2023 by smellincoffee

Botanists tell us that the blossom is an evolution of the leaf–but they cannot say just why that particular bud should take from the same air and sunshine a fairer substance, a deeper color, a more permanent existence, and become … Continue reading →

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Faces Along the Bar

Posted on June 5, 2023 by smellincoffee

Faces along the Bar: Lore and Order in the Workingman’s Saloon, 1870-1920© 1998 Madelon Powers331 pages Men’s thinking on this issue seems to have involved an interesting mixture of solicitude and defiance. On the one hand, decent women should be … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Sparring Partners

Posted on June 4, 2023 by smellincoffee

John Grisham is the author of scores of novels of varying quality and two collections of short stories, if memory serves. Sparring Partners is a ‘novelty’, in that it collects three novellas, ranging in time from the 1980s to the … Continue reading →

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Vein Pursuits

Posted on June 3, 2023 by smellincoffee

Vein Pursuits© 2023 Rhett C. Bruno & Jaime Castle322 pages | Audible version read by Roger Clark, 11 hours & change Cold as Hell introduced readers to James Crowley, an undead gunman who was killed trying to protect an innocent … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments