Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

The Seven Wonders

Posted on February 14, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Seven Wonders© 2012 Steven Saylor332 pages A few years ago, I read through the Roma sub Rosa series in which a first-century Sherlock Holmes named Gordianus the Finder made his living investigating murders and other sundry mysteries which were … Continue reading →

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Pride and Prejudice

Posted on February 13, 2013 by smellincoffee

Pride and Prejudice © 1813 Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice is the old story of girl meets boy, girl declares boy to be Worst Man in the World and humiliates him,, girl’s family is saved from social and financial ruin … Continue reading →

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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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