Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

A Consumers’ Republic

Posted on November 9, 2013 by smellincoffee

A Consumers’ Republic© 2002 Lizbeth Cohen576 pages What is the meaning of citizenship? To the Romans, and to the early Americans, citizenship was an exclusive state of being that depended on owning land, and so a stake in society. In … Continue reading →

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Sharpe’s Siege

Posted on November 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

Sharpe’s Siege© 1987 Bernard Cornwell352 pages                Napoleon may not realize it, but his wars are lost. The English have achieved total naval supremacy,  and are free to raid the coasts of the imperial hexagon at their leisure. Richard Sharpe, … Continue reading →

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Hitler’s Peace

Posted on November 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

Hitler’s Peace© 2006 Phillip Kerr464 pages Willard Mayer has the strangest luck. How many people get to dine with FDR, talk about the worries of life with Winston Churchill, annoy Joseph Stalin, and shake hands with Adolf Hitler? And this … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: airborne hell, David Sedaris, and coffee with evil

Posted on November 4, 2013 by smellincoffee

Last week I broke off from The City in History to do some light reading, beginning with Phillip Kerr’s Hitler’s Peace, a bit of speculative historical fiction which will be getting full comments tonight. The novel features an Office of … Continue reading →

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Zealot

Posted on October 29, 2013 by smellincoffee

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth© 2013 Raza Aslan337 pages Reza Aslan’s Zealot searches for the historical Jesus and finds him as a religious revolutionary, one who anticipated the imminent demise of the Roman Empire. No gentle … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Jesus, bikes, and Greeks

Posted on October 28, 2013 by smellincoffee

In recent weeks I’ve finished up an unplanned series of readings on first-century Judeo-Christianity.  Shortly after checking out The Origin of Satan for some historical research, two seperate people happened to reccommend Misquoting Jesus and Zealot at the same time, … Continue reading →

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The Origin of Satan

Posted on October 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Origin of Satan: How Christianity Demonized Jews, Pagans, and Heretics© 1996 Elaine Pagels240 pages Although Christianity sprang from Judaism, the two religions have sharply different conceptions of Satan. Christians view him as the prince of evil, the enemy of … Continue reading →

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Misquoting Jesus

Posted on October 18, 2013 by smellincoffee

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why© 2005 Bart Ehrman256 pages Contrary to popular belief, the King James Bible did not fall out of the sky, a gift from a loving deity to his people below. … Continue reading →

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Bicycle: the History

Posted on October 18, 2013 by smellincoffee

Bicycle: The History© 2006 David Herlihy480 pages Where did the bicycle come from? Bicycle: the History tells the story in exacting detail, beginning in the 19th century. An age of progress  and scientific triumph, wherein everyday life was constantly being … Continue reading →

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Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures

Posted on October 17, 2013 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Enterprise, Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures© 2013 Christopher L Bennett356 pages  The Romulan War is over, and with it, Michael Martin’s authorship of the Enterprise Relaunch.  The newest Enterprise novel, Rise of the Federation: A … Continue reading →

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