Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

This week: POWER! unLIMITED POWER!!!!!!

Posted on June 9, 2014 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: First, of literary interest, last night I discovered a “Classic Tales” podcast that features readings of classic stories. I haven’t figured out how to access their archives prior to February, but just on the front page are performances … Continue reading →

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Anthem

Posted on June 7, 2014 by smellincoffee

Anthem© 1938 Ayn Rand128 pages In a dark future, the triumph of collectivism has created a global society deteriorating to near-medieval conditions.  Man is utterly broken by the state, dominated by institutions from birth onward. Raised in cohorts in government … Continue reading →

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Divergent

Posted on June 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

Divergent © 2011 Veronica Roth 487 pages Every major city has problems with organized gangs, but the Chicago of Divergent’s future has nothing else. The entire society is organized in five factions devoted to an ideal;  Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudition, Amity, … Continue reading →

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The Smoke at Dawn

Posted on June 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Smoke at Dawn© 2014 Jeff Shaara528 pages The bells of the South in 1863 rang death knells, not peals of joyous victory. In July, on the same day that Lee’s army suffered a staggering loss at Gettysburg,  General Grant … Continue reading →

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The Penelopiad

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Penelopiad© 2006  Margaret Atwood224 pages               Which is worse, waiting twenty years for a rascal of a husband to return home while simultaneously managing his kingdom, raising his son, and fending off scores of … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Civil War and Sea People

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: This weekend I finally posted comments for Away Down South, completing my unintentional miniseries of Books Whose Titles Came from the Chorus of “Dixie”.   The traditional verses offer a lot of other phrases ripe for titles; imagine … Continue reading →

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The Burden of Southern History

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Burden of Southern History © 1960, 1968, 1970 C. Vann Wordward 250 pages Louisiana State University Press The publication of these essays on southern character and its tragic history, from Civil War to the abandoned civil rights efforts of … Continue reading →

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Away Down South

Posted on May 31, 2014 by smellincoffee

Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity © 2007 James C. Cobb 416 pages             What does it mean to be southern, beyond a fondness for turnip greens and cornbread?  The answer is an evolving one, as the South’s … Continue reading →

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Who Killed Homer?

Posted on May 29, 2014 by smellincoffee

Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom© 1998 Victor Davis Hanson290 pages For hundreds of years, the study of the classics was at the heart of a liberal education, thought essential to the … Continue reading →

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Ten in the life of Sharpe

Posted on May 27, 2014 by smellincoffee

Since 2010 I have been steadily reading through Sharpe’s series, a set of historical novels following the storied career of the fictional Richard Sharpe, an orphan turned soldier who became an officer after saving the Duke of Wellington’s life in … Continue reading →

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