Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Azazel

Posted on October 5, 2016 by smellincoffee

Azazel: Fantasy Stories© 1988 Isaac Asimov221 pages George isn’t an ordinary fellow, for in times past his ancestors possessed the arcane knowledge required to summon creatures — demons? aliens? — from another plane of existence.  The best George can manage … Continue reading →

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Los Alamos

Posted on September 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Los Alamos© 1997 Joseph Kanon416 pages A man lies dead in Santa Fe, but the answer to ‘whodunit’ lies in the hills above the city — or on The Hill, the site of the Los Alamos Laboratory, where something very … Continue reading →

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The Pawnbroker

Posted on September 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Pawnbroker© 2014 David Thurlo, Aimée Thurlo304 pages Charlie and Gordo are two Afghan War vets returning to civilian life, but as it turns out, parts of Albuquerque aren’t that much safer than Kabul. When their friend and attorney is gravely … Continue reading →

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Fire on the Mountain

Posted on September 26, 2016 by smellincoffee

Fire on the Mountain© 1961 Edward Abbey211 pages Beneath the shadow of Thieves’ Mountain, Billy Starr has arrived to spend a summer with his grandfather. He has arrived in the middle of a six-month siege, however, one of increasing intensity. … Continue reading →

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Loose Ends

Posted on September 25, 2016 by smellincoffee

Roswell: Loose Ends© 2001 Greg Cox288 pages The last person Liz expected to bump into in the depths of Carlsbad Caverns was the man who nearly killed her — would have killed her, had her lab-buddy/secret admirer not been nearby … Continue reading →

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Send More Idiots

Posted on September 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Send More Idiots© 2014  Tony Perez-Giese324 pages “What do you think of El Paso?” “It’s an armpit.” “I live here, and I don’t even take offense to that.” Jon Lennox’ kid brother just disappeared in Mexico. He didn’t run off  with a … Continue reading →

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Deke!

Posted on September 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

Deke! U.S. Manned Space Flight from Mercury to the Shuttle© 1994 Deke Slayton and Michael Cassutt352 pages Don Slayton knew he wanted to fly as a kid, but he never imagined going as high as the moon  His story is … Continue reading →

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Hillbilly Elegy

Posted on September 22, 2016 by smellincoffee

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis© 2016 J.D. Vance272 pages Imagine a childhood in which the most stable person in your life once methodically marinated her passed-out drunken husband with lighter fluid, then set him … Continue reading →

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America First

Posted on September 21, 2016 by smellincoffee

America First: Its History, Culture, and Politics© 1995 Bill Kauffman296 pages For slightly over a year prior to the attack at Pearl Harbor, there existed a civic organization of nearly a million people called the America First Committee. It dedicated … Continue reading →

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Words from little America

Posted on September 18, 2016 by smellincoffee

“There are many, many Americas — there’s a televised America, one that consists of The View and Katie Couric and Jenner — there’s that America. But then there’s the America I experience, the America you never see on television. It’s … Continue reading →

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