Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Murder at Fenway Park

Posted on September 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

Murder at Fenway Park© 1994 Troy Soos252 pages 1912, Boston. The Titanic is only a few weeks lost to the North Atlantic bottom, but Mickey Rawling’s mind isn’t on one of the biggest maritime disasters of history. No, he’s just been … Continue reading →

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Rescue Warriors

Posted on September 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America’s Forgotten Heroes© 2009 David Helvarg384 pages When Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, the Coast Guard was the first on the scene, with helicopters in the air saving lives long before FEMA … Continue reading →

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When Tigers Fight

Posted on August 31, 2016 by smellincoffee

When Tigers Fight: The Story of the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945© 1989 Dick Wilson269 pages “We Japanese cannot win here. We are trying to plow the ocean.” Before plunging into the abyss of hubris and attempting to claim the entire Pacific … Continue reading →

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Killer Blondes and Killer Wheat

Posted on August 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

A few weeks ago I read Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man, a murder-mystery from the same Pinkerton agent turned author who produced The Maltese Falcon.   I was sold by the opening line: I was leaning against the bar in a … Continue reading →

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The Porch and the Cross

Posted on August 27, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Porch and the Cross: Ancient Stoic Wisdom for Modern Christian Living© 2016 Kevin Vost198 pages Stoicism as a moral philosophy has had admirers through the ages, and especially during the medieval epoch. While modern snobbery tends to dismiss the … Continue reading →

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The Cargo Ship Diaries

Posted on August 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Cargo Ship Diaries: 44 months, 37 countries, 0 flights © 2014 Niall Doherty133 pages A few years ago while looking for information on minimalism, I encountered the YouTube presence of one Niall Doherty, an Irishman traveling the world, living and … Continue reading →

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Miracle at Midway

Posted on August 21, 2016 by smellincoffee

Miracle at Midway© 1983 Gordon Prange, Donald Goldstein and,Katherine Dillon,512 pages Miracle at Midway is a thorough history of the June 4-7 effort of the Japanese to simultaneously seize the most likely U.S. approaches to the Empire and lure the … Continue reading →

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Retail Warfare

Posted on August 20, 2016 by smellincoffee

Recently I decided to drive to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a bite to eat. Tuscaloosa is famously the home of the University of Alabama, feared and resented throughout the United States for its football program (so I hear), but I was … Continue reading →

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Dreamland

Posted on August 19, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51© 1998 Phil Patton336 pages “What would happen if the U.S. government opened its doors to us and let us see all that was going on? Depending on what is … Continue reading →

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Stalingrad

Posted on August 17, 2016 by smellincoffee

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943© 1998 Anthony Beevor494 pages In June 1941, Hitler demonstrated the truism that evil will oft evil mar by launching an invasion of the Soviet Union. Though initiated later in the year than planned, the Wehrmacht’s … Continue reading →

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