Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Things Fall Apart

Posted on December 10, 2013 by smellincoffee

Things Fall Apart© 2013 Harry Turtledove400 pages What was the difference? Just a little timing. There wasn’t a person in the world who didn’t have a story like that. If you’d been a little late or a little early, if … Continue reading →

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This week: Nature Wants to Kill You with Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and Harry Turtledove

Posted on December 9, 2013 by smellincoffee

Craving manly tales of outdoor adventure, I checked out a handful of short-story collections by Ernest Hemingway and Jack London. I started with the titular story of Hemingway’s The Snows of Kilamanjaro, having seen the movie earlier in the week. and … Continue reading →

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Down the River

Posted on December 4, 2013 by smellincoffee

Down the River© 1982 Edward Abbey In Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey collected contemplative pieces he had written while a park ranger in the high desert, putting his passion for the wilderness into action by working to conserve it. The volume … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: NaNoWriMo! Victorians, Napoleon, and a cantankerous Thoreau

Posted on December 2, 2013 by smellincoffee

Yaay. Is it weird that I was more excited to hit 45,000 words than to actually ‘win’ NaNoWriMo? I suppose that’s because when I hit 45,000, it was the evening I added a few days’ work from different files into … Continue reading →

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Sharpe’s Revenge

Posted on December 2, 2013 by smellincoffee

Sharpe’s Revenge © 1989 Bernard Cornwell Englishmen in Toulouse, Prussians in Paris — there are foreigners everywhere, and for Napoleon the war is over. Not for Sharpe, though, not by a long shot. His old enemy Pierre Ducos has seen … Continue reading →

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If the Dead Rise Not

Posted on November 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

If the Dead Rise Not© 2011 Phillip Kerr464 pages             Bernie Gunther would be your standard-issue world-weary detective were it not for the fact that he just killed a Nazi.  Gunther has no love for the … Continue reading →

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This week the library: NaNoWriMo, Sharpe, and histories

Posted on November 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

We’re in the last week of National Novel Writing Month, and I can cheerfully report that I am not woefully behind, having faithfully plugged away almost every night. If I can make up for a couple of missed days, I should … Continue reading →

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Martin Eden

Posted on November 21, 2013 by smellincoffee

Martin Eden© 1908 Jack London381 pages For its first two thirds, Martin Eden is a uplifting tale of art and romance about a man of humble means who hauls himself up to a better station in life in pursuit of a … Continue reading →

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The Man Who Cycled the World

Posted on November 20, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Man Who Cycled the World© 2011 Mark Beaumont400 pages Why did Mark Beaumont decide to try and break the world record for circumnavigating the world by bicycle? Well, it beat law school. In his early twenties, with his life’s … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Jack London, the e-lectric telegraph, and the consequences of sex

Posted on November 18, 2013 by smellincoffee

Today I made my monthly trip to my university library, where under skies threatening thunderstorms I happily lost myself in the stacks for a few hours. I came home with a bag of books, including… The Victorian Internet, Tom Standage … Continue reading →

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