Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

All Fall Down

Posted on December 15, 2012 by smellincoffee

 Supervolcano: All Fall Down © 2012 Harry Turtledove 416 pages     YellowstoneNational Park is gone, replaced by a vast caldera that still ripples the air with its heat. The momentous eruption covered North America’s great-growing heartland in ash, ruining … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

1493

Posted on December 13, 2012 by smellincoffee

1493: Uncovering the New World that Columbus Created© 2011 Charles C. Mann690 pages Although Christopher Columbus’s reputation as an intrepid explorer doesn’t withstand historical scrutiny,  Charles C. Mann believes Columbus has a legacy still worth honoring. No, he didn’t prove … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Cattle

Posted on December 13, 2012 by smellincoffee

Cattle: an Informal Social History© 2001 Laurie Winn Carlson321 pages Consider…the cow. A humble creature, its dopey expression reveals no vast intelligence, and its barrel of a body gives it virtually no athletic ability, but it is remarkable if nothing … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Teaser Tuesday + This Week at the Library (11 December)

Posted on December 11, 2012 by smellincoffee

“The Sun King used to entertain his guests by giving them rides on the Roulette, a kind of roller coaster built in the garden of his chateau at Marly, near Verailles, in 1691. It was a carved and gilded carriage … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | 4 Comments

The Eternal Tide

Posted on December 4, 2012 by smellincoffee

Star Trek Voyager: the Eternal Tide© 2012 Kirsten Beyer388 pages           Only Kathryn Janeway can save reality, imperiled by the physical manifestation of Chaos itself. At least, that’s what “Junior”, the scion of the mostly-omnipotent and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

This Week at the Library (30 November)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by smellincoffee

This past week I read A South Divided, by David Downing, which covers  the same ground  in part as David Williams’ Bitterly Divided, in that it examines the importance of southerners who worked against the confederacy. But whereas Williams argued … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hominids

Posted on November 24, 2012 by smellincoffee

Hominids© 2003 Robert Sawyer448 pages “You manage to comfortably feed six billion people with plants?”“Well, ah, no,” said Mary. “About half a billion people don’t have enough to eat.”“That is very bad,” said Ponter, simply. Why did humans kill off … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Space Chronicles

Posted on November 19, 2012 by smellincoffee

Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier© 2012 Neil deGrasse Tyson; edited by Avis Lang384 pages On July 20th, 1969, America mesmerized the world by landing men on the Moon. For the first time in history, human feet stepped on the soil … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This Week at the Library (16 November)

Posted on November 17, 2012 by smellincoffee

The postman was kind to me this week, delivering a batch of reading I’m very much looking forward to. Some of the books I received include works I’ve been intending to read all year long: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Space Chronicles and Charles C. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | 2 Comments

Read of England 2012

Posted on November 17, 2012 by smellincoffee

Last week, Britons celebrated or observed Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November, a date I usually try to do some English-themed reading around, just as I do readings for the Fourth of July and Bastille Day. This year’s reading consisted … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment