Category Archives: General

Decision Points

Posted on May 14, 2026 by smellincoffee

I have a ….complicated relationship with George W. Bush. He was the president when I was in high school, and most importantly during 9/11: his “I can hear you!” response still makes me want to find a table, stand on … Continue reading →

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Classics Club Spin #44

Posted on May 14, 2026 by smellincoffee

It’s time for another Classics Club spin, in which we’re given until May 17th to produce a list of 20 titles remaining on our Classics Club list, and then on that date a random number tells us which book on … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on May 13, 2026 by smellincoffee

Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, what’s something we’d like to know more about? ….well, everything. You know when we’re children, we pester adults with question after question — what’s that? What’s that? Why does it do this? … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Bookish Quotes in re: the Whole Flower Thingummy

Posted on May 11, 2026 by smellincoffee

(Yes, I’ve been enjoying PG Wodehouse. How could you tell?) Teaser Tuesday “The one thing that saved me was that I always thought facts mattered. And once you think that facts matter, then of course that’s a very different ball … 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 →

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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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