Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Born Fighting

Posted on March 25, 2015 by smellincoffee

Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America© 2004 Jim Webb384 pages Born Fighting is a family story of the Scots-Irish, a clan of forgotten men. Beginning with the Celts, author Jim Webb moves swiftly through British history to the establishment … Continue reading →

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

The Importance of Being Earnest

Posted on March 19, 2015 by smellincoffee

“The Importance of Being Earnest” © 1895 Oscar Wilde The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility! (Algernon, Act I.)          Algernon and Earnest … Continue reading →

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

Selma 1965

Posted on March 18, 2015 by smellincoffee

Selma 1965: the March that Changed the South© 1974, 1985, 2015 Chuck Fager257 pages (2nd edition), Last weekend, my hometown suddenly became host to two presidents, a hundred members of Congress, and enough people to see it swell over ten times … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Iron Web

Posted on March 14, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Iron Web© 2009 Larken Rose363 pages         All Jessica wanted to do to celebrate her 19th birthday was go camping and test out her skills navigating with a GPS. At no point during the celebration did … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Runaway Slaves

Posted on March 13, 2015 by smellincoffee

Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation© 2000 John Hope Franklin, Loren Schweninger480 pages Easily the most horrible aspect of American history, is the institution of slavery.  Indentured servitude had been a historical norm for centuries before, of course,  usually the … Continue reading →

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

The Marriage Game

Posted on March 3, 2015 by smellincoffee

 The Marriage Game©  2015 Alison Weir416 pages             In Greek mythology,  the gods punished Tantalus by subjecting him to perpetual hunger, made worse by the fact that food and drink were both seemingly close at hand.His every attempt to drink … Continue reading →

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

The Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers

Posted on February 24, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Rebels: A Brotherhood of Outlaw Bikers© 2000 Daniel Wolf372 pages Ever wonder what  it’s like to ride with a biker gang? They held a certain fascination for Daniel Wolf, who decided to turn a local gang into an anthropological … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Whiskey Sour

Posted on February 18, 2015 by smellincoffee

Whiskey Sour: A Jack Daniels Mystery © 2004 J.A. Konrath288 pages Somewhere in the city of Chicago is a sexual sadist, and it’s Jack Daniels’s task to bring him down. Jacqueline Daniels is your standard world-weary detective, tough as nails and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 3 Comments

I Am Malala

Posted on February 17, 2015 by smellincoffee

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World© 2014 Malala Yousafzai240 pages      In 2012, Islamic fundamentalists shot a girl in the face for refusing to be cowed by their forceful attempt to impose … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Internet Police

Posted on February 14, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Internet Police: How Crime Went Online (and the Cops Followed)© 2014 Nate Anderson 310 pages  Not since the steam engine has the world been so utterly transformed than by the Internet. Originally a military network, it is now infrastructure, undergirding modern life … Continue reading →

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