Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Gandolfini

Posted on August 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

Like many, I was awed by James Gandolfini’s performance throughout The Sopranos,  which made him an actor whose presence guarantees I’ll watch any movie he’s in. Gandolfini is a professional biography of an actor whose charisma and commitment to his … Continue reading →

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Husk

Posted on August 16, 2025 by smellincoffee

A plague has destroyed much of human civilization, but in Texas, at least, there is a remainder. Before the plague and subsequent collapse, pioneering scientists had created a way for human consciousness to be transferred to a digital world — … Continue reading →

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The Henchman’s Book Club

Posted on August 14, 2025 by smellincoffee

Mark is a henchman who has served the Agency for several years, surviving numerous bosses’ demises at the hands of talented superspies. The overwhelming majority of the time, he and his fellow minions are sitting bored, waiting for something to … Continue reading →

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Of Ben Franklin and Andy Jackson’s America

Posted on August 14, 2025 by smellincoffee

For whatever reason I’ve been struggling to find inspiration or motivation to review two history books I’ve read in the last month or so, and since they’re similar — early American history — I’m going to regretfully short-round them. Most … Continue reading →

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Cancelled: The Shape of Things to Come

Posted on August 12, 2025 by smellincoffee

Sienna Clay has a secret: she’s an Auditor.  Her job is to investigate her fellow Britons who are accused of thoughtcrime, or whose ancestors may have committed horrors like eating meat.  New Britanna’s  status as an island of tolerance set … Continue reading →

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Roswell High, 7 – 10: Converging Villains!

Posted on August 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

At the end of The Stowaway, the gang formed a psychic link with one another, and then with the alien collective consciousness, in order to create a wormhole to send the villain back home for justice. Unfortunately, at the same … Continue reading →

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Roswell High, 4-6: Boy, that Escalated Quickly

Posted on August 6, 2025 by smellincoffee

Continuing in my Roswell reread. The Watcher begins pleasantly enough, with relationship drama between the six teens more or less stabilizing. Liz is no longer angry at Max for shying away from a formal relationship on the grounds that it … Continue reading →

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In the Forests of the Night

Posted on August 5, 2025 by smellincoffee

I decided to do my Roswell High re-read this week because I would spend most of it dogsitting in the backwoods, so deep into the green that there would be no internet. My evenings would therefore including reading and rubbing … Continue reading →

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Roswell High, #1-3: The Beginning

Posted on August 4, 2025 by smellincoffee

The scene: a kitchsy diner in Roswell, New Mexico, with a strong “aliens and UFO” theme: the tables are shaped like flying saucers, and the waitresses strut around in Star Trek-esque skirts. Two men at a far table begin arguing, … Continue reading →

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When the Moon Hits Your Eye

Posted on July 31, 2025 by smellincoffee

John Scalzi meets Randall Monroe in a comic SF novel with an insane premise: the Moon has been replaced by a giant orb of cheese. Or, to use NASA’s language, it has “assumed an organic matrix”. How? Who knows?! It’s … Continue reading →

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