Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Bloody Ground

Posted on February 12, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Bloody Ground© 2001 Bernard Cornwell398 pages In the fall of 1862, Robert E. Lee took the initiative after a string of triumphs over the bungling Union army and launched an attack into the north, aiming to bloody the Federal army’s nose … Continue reading →

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Waiting on a Train

Posted on February 9, 2013 by smellincoffee

Waiting on a Train: the Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service© 2009 James McCommons304 pages You leave the Pennsylvania Station ’bout a quarter to four, Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore! Dinner in the diner, nothing could be … Continue reading →

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Walkable Cities

Posted on January 31, 2013 by smellincoffee

Walkable Cities: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time© 2012 Jeff Speck312 pages   For most of human history, cities were limited to the area that people could cover on foot within a day, but the advent … Continue reading →

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Home from Nowhere

Posted on January 30, 2013 by smellincoffee

Home from Nowhere: Remaking Our Everyday World for the 21st Century© 1998 James Howard Kunstler320 pages “History doesn’t believe anybody’s advertising.” (p.1) James Howard Kunstler penned The Geography of Nowhere in an attempt to answer the question: why is America … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: Little Ice Age, and Bernard Cornwell

Posted on January 23, 2013 by smellincoffee

Last night I finished Battleflag, third in the Nathaniel Starbuck series. Seeing as I just finished and commented on Copperhead, posting extensive thoughts on Battleflag seemed redundant. Nate is still the son of a Boston abolitionist preacher fighting for the south … Continue reading →

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Copperhead

Posted on January 21, 2013 by smellincoffee

Copperhead: Ball’s Bluff, 1862© 1993 Bernard Cornwell417 pages Nathaniel Starbuck is a man with a mighty grumpy enemy.  Wealthy Virginian planter Washington Falcouner rescued Starbuck from a mob, asking him for his service in arms alongside his son, Adam, in … Continue reading →

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This week at the Library: Hunger Games, Hunting, and Baseball

Posted on January 12, 2013 by smellincoffee

I started this year off by finishing The Hunger Games: its finale, Mockingjay, utterly consumed my attention. It’s the story of revolution, a war against the oppressive Capitol which erupted in the course of the 75th Hunger Games, a teenage deathmatch … Continue reading →

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Catching Fire

Posted on January 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

Catching Fire© Suzanne Collins 2009391 pages  When Katniss Everdeen stepped foot into the arena of the 74th Hunger Games, she didn’t expect to leave alive,  let alone a victorious symbol of rebellion and hope against tyranny. She defied the odds … Continue reading →

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Reeds to Reals: The Hunger Games (No Spoilers)

Posted on January 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

In the not-too-distant future, civilization as we know it is long-vanished, replaced by a sprawling empire centered on North America that murders children for sport. To punish its twelve constituent districts for past rebellion, the government  of Capitol forces them … Continue reading →

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Calico Joe

Posted on January 3, 2013 by smellincoffee

Calico Joe© 2012 John Grisham208 pages It’s not every day that dear old dad tries to murder your childhood hero, but such a thing happened to Paul Tracy. His dad was Warren Tracy, an abusive drunk playing for the Mets … Continue reading →

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