Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Gallipoli

Posted on November 25, 2014 by smellincoffee

Gallipoli© 1956 Alan Moorehead416 pages           As the Great War ensnared powers beyond Middle Europe, it became  in truth a world war,  providing the spark to reignite old tensions in places like the middle east.  In late … Continue reading →

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Varieties of Scientific Experience

Posted on November 21, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for Goded. Ann Druyan, © 2006304 pages In 1985, Carl Sagan delivered a series of lectures to the University of Glasgow on the general subject of natural theology, or … Continue reading →

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Joan of Arc

Posted on November 20, 2014 by smellincoffee

Joan of Arc: A Spiritual Biography© 1998 Siobhan Nash-Marshall176 pages In 1429, France in her darkest hour was startled by the sudden appearance of a shining star — a teenage girl from a minor village, wielding a standard and claiming … Continue reading →

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No Hill Too High for a Stepper

Posted on November 17, 2014 by smellincoffee

No Hill Too High for a Stepper: Memories of Montevallo, Alabama© 2014 Mike Mahan384 pages No Hill Too High for a Stepper is a work of reminiscence, a country dentist’s recollections of growing up in a small Alabama town during … Continue reading →

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Under the Eagle

Posted on November 10, 2014 by smellincoffee

Under the Eagle© 2000 Simon Scarrow256 pages If given the choice between being attacked by foul-smelling, weirdly-painted Germans, and being attacked by foul-smelling, weirdly-painted Celts, which would you choose? For Centurion Macro, it’s rather obvious: the Germans! At least monitoring … Continue reading →

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Master of Rome

Posted on November 8, 2014 by smellincoffee

Master of Rome384 pages© 2011 John Stack     Winning a naval war against the Carthaginians is such a pain in the ol’ gluteus maximus. Invade Africa, threaten their very capital, and what do they do? They break an entire Roman legion … Continue reading →

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Player Piano

Posted on November 6, 2014 by smellincoffee

Player Piano© 1952 Kurt Vonnegut352 pages “I’d be in exile now, but everywhere’s the same…”      Not since the roaring twenties was American society so giddily obsessed with newfangled stuff than in the 1950s.  Americans were awash in material prosperity, … Continue reading →

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A Ghostly Watch and Wait: A Reading

Posted on November 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

“The most hideous scenes of all, however, were enacted in St. Sophia. Matins were already in progress when the beserk conquerors were heard approaching. Immediately the great bronze doors were closed, but the Turks soon smashed their way in. The … Continue reading →

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Between the Testaments

Posted on October 31, 2014 by smellincoffee

Between the Testaments© 1960 D.S. Russell176 pages             The sudden eruption of Christianity from Judaism is inexplicable when considering only the Protestant Bible.  From nowhere burst the Trinity, Satan as a rebel, and an obsession with … Continue reading →

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Gone Girl (No Spoilers)

Posted on October 24, 2014 by smellincoffee

Gone Girl© 2012 Gillian Flynn432 pages Gone Girl is a dark pleasure, a thriller driven by loathsome people whose greatest achievements are an exercise in sociopathy. Like The Sopranos or The Tudors,  the story is a gripping one, utterly captivating and … Continue reading →

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