Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Knife Creek

Posted on September 23, 2025 by smellincoffee

Mike Bowditch and his biologist girlfriend Stacey were out in the woods doing game warden things — specifically, seeking and destroying feral hogs invading from New Hampshire — when they stumbled upon a shallow grave for a baby wrapped in … Continue reading →

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Backcountry Lawman

Posted on September 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

Readers may remember that earlier this year I fell into CJ Box’s game warden novels starring Joe Pickett with the eagerness of a winter traveler who finds a cabin laden with quilts and fresh chili. I subsequently found Paul Doiron’s … Continue reading →

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Riding with Evil

Posted on September 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

Ken Croke spent two years living a double life, one in which the ATF agent’s suburbanite existence was increasingly overshadowed by his second life as a sergeant in arms for the notorious PAGANS motorcycle club. The story unfolds in the … Continue reading →

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Dominus

Posted on September 17, 2025 by smellincoffee

Di immortales, it’s been a while since I read any Steven Saylor! For those who don’t know the name, Saylor is an author of Roman historical fiction; I found him in college, and devoured a long series starring “Gordianus the … Continue reading →

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The Storm of the Century

Posted on September 15, 2025 by smellincoffee

In 1900, a powerful hurricane swept Galveston Bay and destroyed a boomtown that in time may have become the New York of the Gulf. In ways, Al Roker’s Storm of the Century is rather similar to Isaac’s Storm, in that … Continue reading →

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SPQR

Posted on September 12, 2025 by smellincoffee

SPQR is an unusual history of Rome, one that largely ignores the imperial period to focus instead on ancient Rome — first, the early city-state, and then the expansive republic it grew into. It also ignores a general narrative, choosing … Continue reading →

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Fall and Rise

Posted on September 11, 2025 by smellincoffee

24 years ago today, the ‘severe clear’ skies above New York were overwhelmed by ash and smoke, by ignorance and hate. Fall and Rise is a history of that day, one that was good enough to be favorably compared to … Continue reading →

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WWW Wednesday

Posted on September 10, 2025 by smellincoffee

WHAT have you finished reading recently? A couple of memoirs about people who escaped from the North Tower on 9/11. WHAT are you reading now? SPQR by Mary Beard (~70% through) and Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11, Mitchell … Continue reading →

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From the Inside Out: Twin Tower Escapes

Posted on September 8, 2025 by smellincoffee

Erik Ronningen came close to death several times on 9/11 as he made his way from the heights above Manhattan to the relative safety of the sidewalks below. The day after, while comparing notes with his wife, Ronningen was struck … Continue reading →

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The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World

Posted on September 5, 2025 by smellincoffee

I’ve been collecting WTC photos since high school, haunted by watching the Towers burn and fall on live tv. Some of the most interesting I’ve seen have been inside Windows of the World, a restaurant that occupied two of the … Continue reading →

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