Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Ugly Little Boy

Posted on July 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Ugly Little Boy© 1991 Isaac Asimov, Robert Silverberg. Based on the 1958 short story by Asimov.290 How would you like to babysit a Neanderthal?   Granted, Edith Fellowes didn’t realize that was the job description. She knew she’d be … Continue reading →

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

Men from Earth

Posted on July 23, 2016 by smellincoffee

Men from Earth© 1989 Buzz Aldrin and Malcom McConnell314 pages Forty-seven years ago, men from Earth first stepped foot on the moon. There, they left medals commemorating the men of Apollo and Soyuz who perished in this quest for fire … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Journey Home

Posted on July 22, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West© 1977 Edward Abbey242 pages The desert is no place for decent men, which is why Edward Abbey likes it so much. Born on the eastern seaboard,  on a farm … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Novels Outside the United States

Posted on July 19, 2016 by smellincoffee

Today the Broke and the Bookish queries their readers: what are your favorite books set outside the United States?   For my list, I am purposely avoiding ‘classics’, and am casting my net wide as as not to simply present … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

A Country Called Amreeka

Posted on July 18, 2016 by smellincoffee

A Country Called Amreeka: U.S. History Retold through Arab-American LivesAlternate subtitle: Arab Roots, American Stories© 2009 Alia Malek320 pages I discovered  A Country Called Amreeka while looking for the film Amreeka, the story of a Palestinian woman who emigrates to … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Inferno

Posted on July 17, 2016 by smellincoffee

Inferno created 14th century Dante Alighieri translated © 2002 Anthony Esolen 528 pages If Dante’s Inferno is to be believed, Hell is mostly populated by Italians.  The first piece in the Divine Comedy, Inferno takes the reader down into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Crescent and Star

Posted on July 16, 2016 by smellincoffee

Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds© 2001 Stephen Kinzer288 pages Turkey is an anomaly. For centuries, it was the dreaded foe of Christendom, twice pushing at the very gates of Vienna. After the Great War, when the victorious west … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

TBR: And Then There was One

Posted on July 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dear readers,  we approach the end for the To be Read Takedown Challenge! Richard Francis’ Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World proved disappointing, not because of the quality of content but the focus thereof.  Although Domesticated sells itself as a … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Literary Converts

Posted on July 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief © 2000 Joseph Pearce 452 pages              Literary Converts is a historical survey of the ‘second spring’ of Anglo-Catholic literature and all that followed, covering most … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Requiem

Posted on July 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

ST TNG #32: Requiem© 1994 Michael Jan Friedman,  Kevin Ryan277 pages dun-dun DA DA DA DA DA DA dun-dun DA da! One hundred years ago, James Kirk of the USS Enterprise arrived at Cestus III to find a Federation colony … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments