Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Guns

Posted on May 13, 2011 by smellincoffee

Guns © 1976 Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) 213 pages Summer. It’s too hot for a job like this. Day like this, anything could go wrong. Doesn’t help that this is the thirteenth job Colley has done with this crew.  They … Continue reading →

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City of Bones

Posted on May 13, 2011 by smellincoffee

City of Bones© 2002 Michael Conelly464 pages High in the Hollywood hills lies the body of  a young boy, buried for two decades, whose bones bear the scars of a lifetime of abuse. When a dog finds the bones, Hieryonymous … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (11 May)

Posted on May 11, 2011 by smellincoffee

My home library sits next door to City Hall on Selma’s downtown thoroughfare of Broad Street. Today I parked closer to City Hall than I usually do, and looked up at a lamp post to see a peculiar sign hanging on it. … Continue reading →

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The Undiscovered Country

Posted on May 10, 2011 by smellincoffee

Star Trek VI:  The Undiscovered Country© 1992 J.M. DillardAdapted from the movie, © 1991. Screenplay and story by Leonard Nimoy, Denny Martin, and Nicholas Meyer. “I give you a toast: to the undiscovered country — the future.” Some nights I … Continue reading →

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The Coming

Posted on May 8, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Coming© 2000 Joe Haldeman217 pages 2054. Earth. The future isn’t what it used to be. The seas are rising — Florida cities are frantically trying to build seawalls for protection — and the outlook is deteriorating.  The United States … Continue reading →

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These Weeks at the Library (20 April – 4 May)

Posted on May 5, 2011 by smellincoffee

The last two weeks have been rather enjoyable, reading-wise. I’ve been reading from the lost books of the Septuagint — books which were in the original Jewish and Christian canons, but discarded by Martin Luther —  and  finding them interesting … Continue reading →

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The Tragedy of the Moon

Posted on May 4, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Tragedy of the Moon© Isaac Asimov 1978224 pages The Tragedy of the Moon collects seventeen sundry Asimovian essays  which will prove a delight to most Asimov fans.  The essays were originally published in Fantasy and Science Fiction, but have been … Continue reading →

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Sharpe’s Rifles

Posted on April 30, 2011 by smellincoffee

Sharpe’s Rifles© 1988 Bernard Cornwell304 pages Where did Clint Eastwood get that great big sword….? It’s the year 1809, and Richard Sharpe has just survived a slaughter in the wintry wastelands of Spain. Cut off from the army and surrounded … Continue reading →

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Ecclesiasticus

Posted on April 26, 2011 by smellincoffee

Ecclesiasticus or The Wisdom of Jesus, Son of SirachFrom The New English Bible, pp. 158 -251© Oxford and Cambridge Universities 1970 Last week I read the Book of Wisdom, a title within the original Jewish and Christian bibles, but one discarded by Protestants. … Continue reading →

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The Accidental Time Machine

Posted on April 21, 2011 by smellincoffee

The Accidental Time Machine© 2007 Joe Haldeman278 pages When underachieving-and-mildly-discontent MIT graduate student tested a new calibrator for his professor’s lab work, he didn’t expect it to vanish for twelve seconds. More precisely, he didn’t expect it to jump in time twelve … Continue reading →

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