Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Savage Gods

Posted on February 18, 2025 by smellincoffee

Savage Gods is a challenging book to review because of its nature: it is a meditation, or perhaps a rumination, by the author on his continuing search for meaning and the role of writing and the word in that search. … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sidetracks

Posted on February 15, 2025 by smellincoffee

Gary Oberg grew up in Minnesota hunting and fishing, and has continued to do so for seventy years — mostly for fun, but sometimes for business as he was also a mechanical engineer who designed reels and other sporting equipment. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Ends of the Earth

Posted on February 13, 2025 by smellincoffee

When Neil Shubin was a young biologist, he got his start looking for fossils in the poles, where now frozen wastelands were once jungles teeming with life. Doing science at the poles is uniquely challenging and physically demanding, sometimes to … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Bloodlands

Posted on February 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

On a scale of 1 to 10, how demoralized, depressed, and soul-dead do you want to be? Ten? Well, have I got a book for you! Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin examines the grim fate of Eastern Europe from … Continue reading →

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

Conversations with Carl Sagan

Posted on February 4, 2025 by smellincoffee

When I began trying to build my own worldview back in 2006, Carl Sagan’s books were instrumental in giving me a scientific orientation — and a scientific education. By the time he first appeared on the blog (November 2007), I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Reading 1984 in 2025

Posted on February 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

This is a buddy read with Cyberkitten! I distinctly remember reading 1984 for the first time in high school, as it was the most depressing thing I’d encountered since Flowers for Algernon. and yet it’s one I’ve returned to time … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Light Eaters

Posted on January 31, 2025 by smellincoffee

Since at least the time of Aristotle, the western mind has regarded plants as passive background scenery; useful to eat, nice for decor, but not all that interesting. Think of how we use the word ‘vegetable’ to refer to someone … Continue reading →

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

Nerve

Posted on January 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

Nerve is an odd little title, a memoir of a woman trying to overcome some specific fears — falling from heights, and driving — occasionally interspersed dips into psychology and neurology. Eva Holland’s fear of heights is enough that she … Continue reading →

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

Goodbye, Darkness

Posted on January 24, 2025 by smellincoffee

Haunted by disturbing dreams that evoke the bloody days of his youth, William Manchester decided to confront his memories directly. Retracing his steps in the Pacific War, returning again to the jungle-covered rocks wherin he suffered, and where so many … Continue reading →

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

The Unsettling of America, audio edition

Posted on January 23, 2025 by smellincoffee

It was twelve years ago that I met a man named Jayber Crow, and met too, his author — Wendell Berry. Berry is one of my very favorite living authors, and would probably still make the list of favorite authors … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments