Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Faith and Treason

Posted on May 2, 2015 by smellincoffee

Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot© 1997 Antonia Frasier384 pages        Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot….or, as contemporaries called it, the Powder Plot.   Its scale, for the 16th … Continue reading →

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Bachelors Anonymous

Posted on April 29, 2015 by smellincoffee

Bachelors Anonymous© 1973 P.G. Wodehouse191 pages “It is never agreeable for a man who is engaged to one girl and has just proposed to another to find himself in the company of both of them.” Ivor Llewellyn and his lawyer … Continue reading →

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In a Dark Wood

Posted on April 29, 2015 by smellincoffee

In a Dark Wood © 1998 Michael Cadnum 256 pages In a Dark Wood tells the story of Robin Hood, the merry thief of Sherwood Forrest, from the perspective of the sheriff whose peace he breaks. Sir Geoffrey of Nottinghamshire … Continue reading →

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Boudica

Posted on April 22, 2015 by smellincoffee

Boudica: The Life and Legend of Britain’s Warrior Queen© 2006 Vanessa Collingridge390 pages To the Roman mind, the isles of Britain lay in the shadows between the light of civilized Empire and the dark depths of the unknown Oceanus which … Continue reading →

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The Other Queen

Posted on April 18, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Other Queen © 2008 Philippa Gregory 448 pages  Bess of Hardwick has survived three husbands, but her fourth may be too much. Sure, he’s the Lord High Steward, whose family came over on the Norman Mayflower,  but the man’s … Continue reading →

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Joe Steele

Posted on April 16, 2015 by smellincoffee

Joe Steele © 2015 Harry Turtledove448 pages                       What if Joseph Stalin was a Democrat? Imagine that the Man of Steel’s parents had emigrated to the United States before he was born, and that instead of rising to power through … Continue reading →

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Ruled Britannia

Posted on April 13, 2015 by smellincoffee

Ruled Britannia© 2002 Harry Turtledove458 pages 1597. The 16th century is drawing to a close, and with it — seemingly — England’s fortunes. Nine years ago the vast Spanish armada triumphed in delivering its army to English shores, where grim … Continue reading →

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Armada

Posted on April 9, 2015 by smellincoffee

Armada© 2012 John Stack400 pages It is the 16th century, and a crisis looms for England.  Spain, who thanks to the plunder of the New World and its Hapsburg connections, is Europe’s heavyweight and the declared enemy of England, threatens war. Spanish … Continue reading →

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Come Rack! Come Rope!

Posted on April 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

Come Rack! Come Rope! © 1912 Robert Hugh Benson 424 pages Dear Miss Manners:       My father, having long been both a leader of resistance against religious tyranny and an inspiration to his countrymen, has surrendered most abjectly … Continue reading →

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The Inimitable Jeeves

Posted on April 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Inimitable Jeeves© 1923 P.G. Wodehouse225 pages Bertie Wooster is something of an imbecile, but his preference for the quiet life would keep him out of trouble were it not for the fact that his relations and idiot friends are … Continue reading →

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