Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

One Word Kill

Posted on May 10, 2019 by smellincoffee

©  Mark Lawrence 2019 260 pages Nick’s young life was shattered when he got the diagnosis: cancer.  Leukemia, specifically.  The odds weren’t good that he’d live five years to see the 1990s.  But whatever was happening to him, inside, something … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged | 4 Comments

Scarlet

Posted on May 8, 2019 by smellincoffee

Scarlet © 2007 Stephen Lawhead 443 pages Young William Scatlock has been reduced to a landless vagrant, courtesy of  malevolent Norman lords and their toadies.  It seems as good an occasion as any to trek west and join forces with … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Two books on deer

Posted on May 2, 2019 by smellincoffee

 Two friends of mine have deer who visit their yard on a regular basis. The does happily tolerate my friends’ presence in the yard, as they’re picking up sticks or watering the flowers. If, however, my friends have guests, and … Continue reading →

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English broadside

Posted on May 1, 2019 by smellincoffee

Well…this has been the saddest Read of England, and the saddest reading month, since my college days.  At least the few I read were all fairly good! Read of England isn’t quite over, as I’ll be working on a few … Continue reading →

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

War of the Wolf

Posted on April 30, 2019 by smellincoffee

War of the Wolfpub. 2018 Bernard Cornwell333 pages Uhtred of Bebbanburg is called a priest-killer, a chief of devils. And yet when a distressed and scarred monk came to his gates and begged that he send help to Mercia, beset … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

American Gun

Posted on April 12, 2019 by smellincoffee

 American Gun© 2013 Chris Kyle336 pages Think of English history, and longbows, tall ships, and shieldwalls may come to mind; think of France, and perhaps the image is knights charging across an open field. But American history, from the colonies … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , | 7 Comments

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Restoration Britain

Posted on April 10, 2019 by smellincoffee

Having previously guided readers through the Medieval and Elizabethan eras, Ian Mortimer now welcomes intrepid travelers to the Age of Restoration. The tyrant Oliver Cromwell is dead, and with him went his grim police-state ‘republic’ and the armed doctrine of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

The Scarlet Thief

Posted on April 7, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Scarlet Thief  © 2013 Paul Fraser Collard352 pages Captain Arthur Sloames stepped off the boat with a terrible secret.  He wore on his shoulders the coat of a dead man.  When his transport left England, he was but Jack … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Alice Roosevelt, Linux, and Death

Posted on March 29, 2019 by smellincoffee

Approaching the end of the month, as we are, time to post a few also-reads: Alice and the Assassin, R.J. Koreto. Entertaining historical fiction following the infamous pistol-packing Alice Roosevelt and her cowboy Secret Service bodyguard.  Following the assassination of … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Tip of the Iceberg

Posted on March 29, 2019 by smellincoffee

Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Wild Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier© 2018 Mark Adams336 pages In 1899, railroad tycoon Edward Harriman organized a multidisciplinary expedition to Alaska, bringing with him some of the best scientists and … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments