Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Unsettled

Posted on December 7, 2022 by smellincoffee

Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters© 2021 Steve Koonin320 pages Over the last twenty years, ‘climate change’ has been subject to the same abuse as ‘terrorism’: it’s levied so often with such enthusiasm … Continue reading →

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Sean of the South and the Old Man’s Boy

Posted on December 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

Sean Dietrich and his wife Jamie’s collective world was shaken when their doctor said the C word.  Cancer.  The emperor of all maladies,  the ticking timebomb in each of us.   Rather than crumbling into a  weeping ball of woe-is-me,  … Continue reading →

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Sid Meier’s Memoir

Posted on November 30, 2022 by smellincoffee

Sid Meier’s Memoir: A Life in Computer Games© 2020 Sid Meier304 pages Dear readers, I cannot tell you how much of my life has been spent in worlds of Sid Meier’s making –  discovering his talent for historically-grounded but  still-compelling … Continue reading →

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Upgrade

Posted on November 28, 2022 by smellincoffee

Upgrade© 2022 Blake Crouch352 pages Growing up, Logan Ramsey idolized his brilliant mother, a cutting edge bioengineer. Then a tool of her device that worked perfectly in proving trials killed over two hundred thousand people by accidentally inducing a global … Continue reading →

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The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War

Posted on November 23, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War© 2008 H.W. Crocker III 370 pages This is not a book I’d expected to read,   because as a Southerner who’s been reading different views about the war for twenty years,  I … Continue reading →

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Stories, southern and otherwise

Posted on November 23, 2022 by smellincoffee

Rick Bragg is one of those authors I gave a shot simply because people around me wouldn’t shut up about him. It’s easy to understand why, after only a page or two;  he has a gift for storytelling, one he … Continue reading →

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Together

Posted on November 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World© 2020 Vivek H. Murthy352 pages People are generally open about their physical health; indeed, for men of a certain age, it’s their favorite topic of discussion — at least, … Continue reading →

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Dopesick

Posted on November 17, 2022 by smellincoffee

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America© 2018 Beth Macy384 pages More people are expected to die from accidental drug overdoses in the next five years than have died in the previous fifteen, part of an overall … Continue reading →

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The Every

Posted on November 9, 2022 by smellincoffee

The Every© 2021 Dave Eggers608 pages Nearly ten years ago, Dave Eggers published The Circle,   about the rise of an uber-corporation whose products had transformed not only the digital world, but were beginning to shape society as well.  Think … Continue reading →

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Go Set a Watchman

Posted on November 8, 2022 by smellincoffee

Go Set a Watchman© 2015 Harper Lee 288 pages When it was announced that Harper Lee had published a sequel to her legendary book, Go Set a Watchman,  I was skeptical, as were many.  Given how close its author was … Continue reading →

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