Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Baseball when the Grass was Real

Posted on May 8, 2025 by smellincoffee

One of my favorite reads from last year was  more of a listen: The Glory of their Times, featuring audio of old-time ballplayers telling stories from the early days of baseball.   Baseball When the Grass was Real is a … Continue reading →

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

Ty Cobb

Posted on May 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

I’ve known the name Ty Cobb since I was a kid: baseball is an anomaly in that it’s the only sport I’ve ever cared enough to read about,  both as a boy and now in my dotage. I encountered Cobb … Continue reading →

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

Battle Mountain

Posted on May 6, 2025 by smellincoffee

WARNING: This review contains a prominent spoiler for Three Inch Teeth and Shadows Reel. Proceed with caution, pilgrim.  Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowski are both wounded men,  having come close to losing all that was dearest to them at the … Continue reading →

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

Three Inch Teeth

Posted on May 5, 2025 by smellincoffee

Joe Pickett’s future son-in-law just got eaten by a bear. Granted,  like most men Joe was a little wary about idea of son-in-laws in general, but Sheridan was fond of the boy and he’d rather no one get eaten by … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Storm Watch

Posted on May 3, 2025 by smellincoffee

While out and about doing Game Warden-type things,  Joe Pickett notices something odd. There’s a movable building of some sort hidden  away on a ranch property, and a man who appears to be stuck with his head in the window.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Highwayman read a western! Plus, game wardening in Maine

Posted on May 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

I’m going to short-round a bunch of Paul Doiron books and just comment on them in general, since the quality is fairly consistent from book to book. But first, on Willie Nelson’s birthday, I searched his name in Audible just … Continue reading →

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

Shadows Reel

Posted on May 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

Game Warden Joe Pickett has been told about a dead moose on someone’s property, and has gone to investigate to see if it’s natural causes or someone winging a moose out of season and then living the poor creature to … Continue reading →

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

Dark Sky

Posted on May 1, 2025 by smellincoffee

Joe Pickett has been asked by the governor to do something he’d….really, really, rather not do.  The governor wants him to take Elon Musk hunting. Well, not really:   the character’s name is Steve-Two, and he’s an eccentric techbro who … Continue reading →

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

Wolf Pack

Posted on April 30, 2025 by smellincoffee

Joe Pickett is back on the job riding the ranges, documenting wolf expansion into the Bighorns, and trying to figure out who is using a large drone to frighten elk and deer herds around. He doesn’t just find the drone … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Selma’s Mayor

Posted on April 29, 2025 by smellincoffee

Like most, if not all, Selmians, I was surprised and saddened by the sudden death of former Mayor George Evans. The mayor had been a figure in my life since I was a child, as he was the school superintendent … Continue reading →

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