Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Rising Sun

Posted on August 9, 2016 by smellincoffee

Rising Sun385 pages© 1992 Michael Crichton In downtown Los Angeles, in a gleaming tower of Japanese commercial success, a woman lies dead on a boardroom table.  The  grand opening of the Nakamoto Corporation’s downtown skyscraper attracted celebrities and politicians alike, … Continue reading →

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Airframe

Posted on August 7, 2016 by smellincoffee

Airframe© 1995 Michael Crichton352 pages What could happen on a plane to leave three people dead, fifty others seriously wounded, and the passenger cabin in ruins?   Why did its pilot only break radio silence shortly before he was due … Continue reading →

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The Director

Posted on August 5, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Director© 2014 David Ignatius384 pages The first week at a new job is rough for anyone, but what if you’re the new director of the CIA and a German kid off the street just informed you that every agent … Continue reading →

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Devil in the Sky

Posted on August 3, 2016 by smellincoffee

ST DS9: Devil in the Sky© 1995 Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt280 pages In the classic TOS episode, “Devil in the Dark”,  Kirk and the Enterprise were dispatched to a mining colony to discover and put an end to … Continue reading →

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Glass Houses

Posted on August 2, 2016 by smellincoffee

Glass Houses: Privacy, Secrecy, and Cyber Insecurity in a Transparent World© 2011, 2013 Joel Brenner320 pages Glass Houses, originally titled  America the Vulnerable, outlines some of the major ways that private citizens, corporations, and the government itself are exposed to … Continue reading →

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The Spanish Frontier in North America

Posted on July 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Spanish Frontier in North America© 1992 David J. Weber602 pages Although American history books will generally mention the early exploration of North America by figures like de Soto,  little attention on the whole is given to the Spanish colonial … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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