Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

10% Human

Posted on July 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

10% Human: How Your Body’s Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness© 2015 Alanna Collen336 pages Walt Whitman wasn’t thinking of bacteria when he mused — “I am large, I contain multitudes” — but Alanna Collen could have gotten … Continue reading →

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

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Posted on July 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?© 1968 Phillip K. Dick210 pages In a world ruined by nuclear war, most animals are extinct and most humans who can have fled for the cold, distant colonies of Mars.  Technical civilization has survived, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Enterprise: the First Adventure

Posted on July 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Enterprise: the First Adventure© 1986 Vonda McIntyre386 pages Jim Kirk thought he was going places. Not even thirty, he’s been named captain and given the Enterprise, famously captained by Chris Pike. But instead of launching out on an extended five … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Red Badge of Courage

Posted on July 7, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Red Badge of Courage© 1895 Stephen Crane170 pgs Stephen Crane practically introduced Civil War historical fiction, writing this tale set during a war that was ended six years before his birth. The Red Badge of Courage is the account … Continue reading →

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

The Obstacle is the Way

Posted on July 6, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Obstacle is the Way© 2014 Ryan Holiday224 pages Let us say, dear reader, that you have heard of Stoicism, hailed as the go-to philosophy of mental fortitude. You want to read about it. But you don’t want to take … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Our America

Posted on July 4, 2016 by smellincoffee

Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States© 2014  Felipe Fernández-Armesto416 pages Spain disappears from American history books following the Spanish-American war, in which the tired old empire was given a sound thrashing and retreated from the hemisphere, but Spanish … Continue reading →

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

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Posted on July 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

Death Comes for the Archbishop © 1927 Willa Cather 297 pages Poor New Mexico — so far from God, so close to the United States. The Pope can’t help the tide of American — and very Protestant — settlement that … Continue reading →

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

So You Want to Read about the Revolution

Posted on July 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

Although I’m reading American literature for Independence Day instead of history, why not share some favorites from previous years’ Independence Day salutes? Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin from HBO’s John Adams. Founding BiographiesJohn Adams, David McCulloughFirst Family: John … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The Monkey Wrench Gang

Posted on July 2, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Monkey Wrench Gang© 1975 Edward Abbey352 pages “Three things my daddy tried to learn me. ‘Son’, he always said, ‘remember these three precepts and you can’t go wrong. One, never eat at a place called Mom’s. Two, never play … Continue reading →

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

O Pioneers!

Posted on June 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

O Pioneers! © 1913 Willa Cather 230 pages The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman. Hannover, Nebraska, is a frontier town on the brink of failing, a temporary camp upon a wild … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments