Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

Selections from Living in Wonder

Posted on December 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

Review to follow tomorrow.

Posted in quotations, Religion and Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Christmas shorts: of Grinches and Herdmans

Posted on December 11, 2024 by smellincoffee

Because of the holidays I’m doing a lot of house and dogsitting at the moment, and driving more than I usually do: consequently I’m also chewing through some audiobooks! Recently I finished two short Christmas “reads”. First up, Walter Matthau … Continue reading →

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Tim Curry Presents: A Christmas Carol

Posted on December 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite pieces of literature, ever, not only for its story of Christmas grace and human redemption, but for Dickens’ frequently amusing writing. I recently saw a theatrical production of it (via the Montevallo … Continue reading →

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Hitler’s Heralds: The Freikorps

Posted on December 7, 2024 by smellincoffee

I’ve had this review written since September, but had intended to feature it as part of a series on inter-war Germany. That’s not going to happen this year, as I’m certainly not spending Advent reading about Weimar and Nazis! After … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Oceans and fishes and magic needles

Posted on December 6, 2024 by smellincoffee

Within the last few weeks I’ve read a couple of science titles, one of which was a big ol’ book that deserves a proper review, but given that my mental energies are entirely focused on my last project for this … Continue reading →

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

The Year of Living Constitutionally

Posted on December 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Although I am a fan of A.J. Jacobs’ ludicrous life experiments (trying to take seriously every bit of health advice he was given for a year, trying to literally follow every single rule in the Bible for a year, etc), … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

A Closed and Common Orbit

Posted on November 26, 2024 by smellincoffee

A Closed and Common Orbit follows closely on the heels of Becky Chambers’ A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, but departs from the good ship Wayfarer to tell instead two coming-of-age stories that prove conjoined. One character is … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Posted on November 22, 2024 by smellincoffee

Rosemary Harper is a newly certified clerk, fresh from college, signing aboard the good ship Wayfarer for her first gig. It’s going to be a long one, too: galactic politics have just opened up the possibility of a lucrative job … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Eruption

Posted on November 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

There’s trouble brewing in paradise. Rumblings and earthquakes and the swelling of Mauna Loa indicate that an eruption is imminent, and it may be a big one, threatening the single urban area on Hawaii’s Big Island. Unfortunately, the situation is … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

The Answer is No

Posted on November 20, 2024 by smellincoffee

I’ve gotten to really like Fredrik Backman this year, and by happy luck his short story “The Answer is No” was available as a ‘first read’ for Amazon prime subscribers. It’s the story of a happy loner named Lucas, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 1 Comment