Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Anti-Politics

Posted on September 19, 2021 by smellincoffee

Anti-Politics: A Collection of Agorist Essays© 2021 ed. Sal Mayweather165 pages If you’re still waiting for your masters for permission to live after nearly two years of “two weeks to flatten the curve”, don’t bother reading further. This isn’t your … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Selections from The Unbroken Thread

Posted on September 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

“The great benefit to be derived from reading pre-modern authors is to come to realise that after all we [moderns] might have been mistaken.” – C.F.J. Martin  [C.S. Lewis] argued that instinct, science’s go-to answer to our central question, just … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations, Religion and Philosophy | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Revolutionary Ride

Posted on September 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Revolutionary Ride: On the Road to find the Real Iran© 2017 Lois Pryce304 pages It was a note from a stranger that took her to Iran, a request from a Habib of Shiraz that she one day visit his home … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Eagles at War

Posted on September 13, 2021 by smellincoffee

Eagles of Rome: Eagles at War© 2015 Ben Kane448 pages Cast from solid gold, and larger than a man could hold in both hands, the eagle was depicted lying forward on its breast. A golden wreath encircled its almost-touching wings, … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Of anthropology, Solzhenitsyn, and a return to the gulag archipelago

Posted on September 12, 2021 by smellincoffee

If I’ve been quiet as of late, I’ve been bedridden with a severe sinus infection, one that came with headaches so severe that I couldn’t even use my four days off of work to read. Yesterday was the first day … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants

Posted on September 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans© Garrett Ryan 288 pages For those interested in the life of Greece and Rome beyond senatorial politics and agricultural policy, Naked States offers an … Continue reading →

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

The Warehouse

Posted on September 5, 2021 by smellincoffee

Paxton used to be a man with a promising idea, one that was flourishing in the market — but then The Cloud said “Lower your prices”. The Cloud wasn’t the voice of God, floating in the heavens — but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Moon is Down | The Pearl | The Red Pony

Posted on September 2, 2021 by smellincoffee

Yesterday I made the mistake of having a sinus headache, and in our Brave New World of Perpetual Hypochondria, I was ordered to the doctor’s office to have my nose jabbed in search of the dreaded Beer Bug. To no … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Traitors of Rome

Posted on August 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

Traitors of Rome© 2019 Simon Scarrow351 pages Young Tribune Cato and his grizzled enlisted mentor Macro have come a long way together, from the dismal bogs of Britannia to the even more dismal desert wastes of the eastern border. Across … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Unsubscribing from romantic-comedy dreams

Posted on August 26, 2021 by smellincoffee

Within the last month I’ve read two somewhat related titles: No More Mr. Nice Guy and The Unplugged Alpha, both mens-interest books but with different tones.  No More Mr. Nice Guy is written by a psychologist who treats men trapped … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 5 Comments